Lynn D. Compton (1921–2012)

Ummmm... It's hard to say bad things about the Band of brothers heroes... But this just isn't that great of a book.

However, it's value is in showing how a person can be stellar and stupid all wrapped in one. Everyone is a combo of good and bad but often, especially with war hero books, it's easy to want the hero to be good at everything, a real superman. Buck, while spouting the standard view of all the other guys being the real heroes, also clearly feels he deep down is one of the good show more guys and presents his story that way... And yet while he's telling us his story he shows us his failings without even knowing it. That may be the most honest way to tell these guy's stories.

Audiobook note : Good narrator show less

Probably the most powerful think Buck Compton says in this book is when he talks about his service. He says when people thank him for his service he just tells them: "My service really only cost me three years of my time. I consider that a small price to pay for the privilege of being born in America."

Buck gives us his life story here. He talks about his time in the military and the places that real life and the HBO series Band of Brothers were different. Unlike many WWII memoirs Buck show more spends a decent amount of time talking about not only his service, but also about his life after the war. Compton went to school to finish the college degree he had started before the war using the GI bill. He joined the LA police department and unusually, went right to their plain clothes division. Compton went to law school at the same time. Eventually he went from police officer to DA. He has some really fascinating stories of cases he tried. Including the one against the killer of Robert Kennedy. Eventually he went on to become a Judge as well. A fascinating life. show less

The problem with this book isn't how its written because it is pretty interesting. The problem is the constant sniping by the author against fellow Americans. The book closes with a depressing jingoistic chapter that, like Heinlein's later works, you just with an editor would have excised out.

Buck Compton was another, among a group of many, remarkable people. I enjoyed reading his take on Easy Company during WWII and also his life after the war was over. We need another generation of men like him.