Lynn Davis "Buck" Compton (December 31, 1921 – February 25, 2012) was an American jurist, law enforcement officer, and United States Army officer during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, serving as a

paratrooper A paratrooper or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light infa ...

in "Easy Company" of the 506th Infantry Regiment within the

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division (military), division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault military operation, operations. The 101st is designed to plan, coordinat ...

. After the war, he joined the

Los Angeles Police Department The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...

and later the

Los Angeles County District Attorney The District Attorney of Los Angeles County is in charge of the office that prosecutor, prosecutes felony and misdemeanor crimes that occur within Los Angeles County, California, United States. The current district attorney (DA) is Nathan Hochma ...

's office, where he rose to the position of chief deputy district attorney. He acted as the lead prosecutor in the trial of

Sirhan Sirhan Sirhan Bishara Sirhan (; ; born March 19, 1944) is a Palestinian-Jordanian man who assassinated Senator Robert F. Kennedy, a younger brother of American president John F. Kennedy and a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 1968 U ...

for the

Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy On June 5, 1968, Robert F. Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan at the Ambassador Hotel (Los Angeles), Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California, and pronounced dead the following day. Kennedy, a United States senator and candidate in the 19 ...

. He was eventually appointed as a judge on the

California Court of Appeal The California Courts of Appeal are the state intermediate appellate courts in the U.S. state of California. The state is geographically divided along county lines into six appellate districts.

. Compton's World War II exploits were depicted in the 1992 book '' Band of Brothers'' by historian

Stephen E. Ambrose Stephen Edward Ambrose (January 10, 1936 – October 13, 2002) was an American historian, academic, and author, most noted for his books on World War II and his biographies of U.S. presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. He was a lon ...

, and the 2001

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

miniseries of the same name, in which Compton was portrayed by

Neal McDonough Neal McDonough (born February 13, 1966) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Lieutenant Lynn Compton, Lynn "Buck" Compton in the HBO miniseries ''Band of Brothers (miniseries), Band of Brothers'' (2001), Deputy District Attorney ...

Early life

Compton was born in Los Angeles, California. Early on, he gave himself the nickname "Buck" due to feeling that Lynn was a name better suited to a girl. His mother Ethel worked for movie studios and a young Compton worked as an extra in films. He was thrown off the set of '' Modern Times'' after angering the film's star

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

. He was an athlete at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA), being named an all-conference catcher and

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n selection in 1942. Among his baseball teammates was

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first Black American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the Baseball color line, ...

.Compton, p.60. Compton was later inducted into the UCLA Baseball Hall of Fame. He majored in physical education, with a minor in education. He joined the

Phi Kappa Psi Phi Kappa Psi (), commonly known as Phi Psi, is an American collegiate social fraternity that was founded at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania in 1852. The fraternity has over ninety chapters at accredited four-year colleges and uni ...

fraternity in 1940. He also started at guard with the UCLA

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team in the 1943 Rose Bowl game on January 1, 1943.

Military service

At UCLA, Compton participated in

ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC; or ) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. While ROTC graduate officers serve in all branches o ...

under Cadet Commander John Singlaub.Compton, p.63.Compton, p.88. In December 1943, he joined the Army and was assigned to E "Easy" Company, 2nd Battalion,

506th Parachute Infantry Regiment The 506th Infantry Regiment, originally designated the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (506th PIR) during World War II, is an Airborne forces, airborne light infantry regiment of the United States Army. Currently a parent regiment under the U. ...

in the

. During

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The ope ...

, Compton participated in Easy Company's action at Brécourt Manor under the leadership of

Richard Winters Richard Davis Winters (January 21, 1918January 2, 2011) was a United States Army officer who served as a paratrooper in "Easy Company" of the 506th Infantry Regiment within the 101st Airborne Division during World War II. Winters was awarded t ...

. Compton and his fellow paratroopers assaulted a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

battery of four 105 mm

howitzer The howitzer () is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun) and a mortar. It is capable of both low angle fire like a field gun and high angle fire like a mortar, given the distinction between low and high angle fire break ...

s firing on Utah Beach, disabling the guns and routing the enemy. During the battle, he threw a

hand grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...

that was said to have had no arc and hit the German soldier on the back of the helmet. Compton was awarded the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

for his action in the battle. Later in 1944, Compton was shot through the buttocks while participating in Operation Market Garden, the Allies' ill-fated attempt to seize a number of bridges in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and cross the

Rhine River The Rhine ( ) is one of the major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Swiss-Austrian border. From Lake Cons ...

into

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. The bullet traveled sideways, through one side of the buttocks and out the other side. After a partial recovery, he returned to Easy Company in time for the siege in the frozen

Ardennes The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. Geological ...

; the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...

. During the battle, Compton was evacuated for severe

trench foot Trench foot, also known by #Names, other names, is a type of immersion foot syndromes, foot damage due to moisture. Initial symptoms often include tingling or itching which can progress to numbness. The feet may become erythema, red or cyanosis, ...

. Stephen E. Ambrose concluded that Compton had been "unnerved" by witnessing two of his closest friends, Joe Toye and

William Guarnere William J. Guarnere Sr. (April 28, 1923 – March 8, 2014) was a United States Army paratrooper who fought in World War II as a non-commissioned officer with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Div ...

, badly wounded by German artillery. Compton wrote in his autobiography, "...although I was affected by the horrors of Bastogne, I do not believe I was clinically shell shocked, as the series portrays me. In real life, while I was hollering for the medic, trying to figure out what to do, I remember two distinct thoughts: How are we going to help the wounded guys?...Maybe this is the time the Germans are really going to get us all." In December 1945 he was discharged from service and returned home to California. In 1947, he joined the Air Force Reserve, serving in the Office of Special Investigations and eventually

Judge Advocate General Corps The Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG or JAG Corps) is the military justice branch or specialty of the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy. Officers serving in the JAG Corps are typically called judge advocates. ...

before retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1970.

Post-war

Criminal justice career

In 1946, Compton returned to UCLA to complete his degree; he turned down an offer to play

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

, choosing instead to concentrate on his continued public service aspirations. Compton married Donna Newman in October 1947 and the couple adopted two daughters. Compton became employed as a

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

with the

(LAPD) in 1946, also attending

Loyola Law School Loyola Law School is the law school of Loyola Marymount University, a private Jesuit university in Los Angeles, California. Loyola was established in 1920. Academics Degrees offered include the Juris Doctor (JD); Master of Science in Legal ...

. Compton quickly rose through the LAPD ranks, becoming a

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

in the Central Burglary Division. He left the LAPD for the

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

's office in 1951, serving as a deputy district attorney. In 1964, LA District Attorney Evelle J. Younger appointed Compton to the position of chief deputy district attorney. In 1968–69, Compton led the successful prosecution of

for the murder of

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968), also known as RFK, was an American politician and lawyer. He served as the 64th United States attorney general from January 1961 to September 1964, and as a U.S. senator from New Yo ...

. In 1970, then-Governor

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

appointed him an associate justice of the

California Courts of Appeal The California Courts of Appeal are the state intermediate appellate courts in the U.S. state of California. The state is geographically divided along county lines into six appellate districts.

. He retired from the bench in 1990.

Later life and death

In the 2000s, Compton's World War II exploits were portrayed in the

miniseries '' Band of Brothers''. Compton's memoirs, entitled ''

Call of Duty ''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter military video game series and media franchise published by Activision, starting in 2003. The games were first developed by Infinity Ward, then by Treyarch and Sledgehammer Games. Several spin-of ...

'' and written with Marcus Brotherton, were published by Berkeley Publishing in May 2008. A celebration of Compton's 90th birthday was held in January 2012 with nearly 200 in attendance including ''Band of Brothers'' actors

Michael Cudlitz Michael Cudlitz (born December 29, 1964) is an American actor known for portraying John Cooper in the NBC/ TNT drama series '' Southland'' for which he won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2 ...

, James Madio,

, and

Richard Speight, Jr. Richard Speight Jr. is an American actor and director who is known for a variety of roles including CBS TV series ''Jericho'', '' The Agency'', and the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers''. Speight played a recurring role, the Archangel Gabriel ...

McDonough developed a friendship with Compton while making the miniseries and kept in touch afterwards. McDonough's son Morgan is nicknamed "Little Buck" in honor of Compton. In January 2012, Compton suffered a heart attack. On February 25, 2012, he died at a daughter's home in

Burlington, Washington Burlington is a city in Skagit County, Washington, United States. Its population was recorded as 9,152 in the 2020 census. Burlington is located approximately halfway between Seattle and Vancouver, Canada. The city is included in the Mount Vernon ...

. His wife Donna died previously in 1994. Today, Loyola Law School honors Compton with the ''Lynn D. "Buck" Compton Veterans Law Association'', promoting "social interaction amongst military and Coast Guard veterans, active duty, National Guard, and reserve personnel at Loyola Law School while encouraging public interest in, and pro bono work on, issues relating to the welfare of military personnel and veterans."

Medals and decorations (Army only)

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Photos of Buck Compton & the Band of Brothers' 2009 visit with Prince Charles

Interview with Compton from World War II Magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Compton, Lynn 1921 births 2012 deaths American football offensive linemen United States Army personnel of World War II American prosecutors Band of Brothers characters Judges of the California Courts of Appeal Los Angeles Police Department officers Loyola Law School alumni Lawyers from Los Angeles Recipients of the Silver Star UCLA Bruins football players United States Army officers University of California, Los Angeles alumni Writers from Los Angeles People from Burlington, Washington 20th-century California state court judges 20th-century American lawyers Military personnel from Los Angeles