Lindbergh was born in Natchitoches Parish as one of 11 children to Dow and Lelie Sapp Carpenter. As a child, he helped out on the family farm. He attended school through the tenth grade, before coming to Shreveport, "around 1950." He worked for Waldrip Pipe Service, then drove a truck for an appliance store owned by Fred Sexton. He now works for the son, Fred Sexton, Jr. Lindbergh was drafted in October of 1952. After basic training at Fort Polk near Leesville, Louisiana, he was sent to Tacoma, Washington, where he was housed in integrated barracks. Lindbergh saw action in Korea in the Third Infantry Division. He carried a Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR). During one battle at a place called Baldy Hill, he was one of 21 of 209 to survive. "You get so you don't care whether you live or die," he comments in characterizing warfare. Lindbergh remained in Korea 15 months and 27 days. He was wounded in the leg, but returned to front line duty. He enjoyed R&R (rest and recuperation) in Kobe, Japan. Returned to the States, he was hospitalized at Fort Chaffee near Fort Smith, Arkansas, for "four or five days," before his discharge. He was soon home in Shreveport where he earned the equivalent of his high school diploma, and bought a house with a loan from the GI Bill. He joined the Veterans of Foreign Wars and was a member of the local chapter of NAACP, in which he served as first vice president and president. In 1960 he married Cladie Coleman. They have one daughter.