Today was the 63rd anniversary of D-Day. Microsoft arranged for LT Lynn "Buck" Compton to come speak on campus. I had the honor to meet him during the autograph signing before his talk. The picture above is one that I took today. This is what he looked like while he was in the service:
Buck became famous because his unit, Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division was featured in Stephen Ambrose's famous book, Band of Brothers, which was later made into an HBO mini-series by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. Buck was played by Neal McDonough.
The actual talk was mixed. He opened up with a very humble speech about how his unit was like so many other units over there, but the only reason why he was here at Microsoft was because one of the guys in his unit was friends with Stephen Ambrose. He took offense to his being called a 'hero' because he felt that the real heros were the guys who didn't come back, or those who came back home but not quite in one piece.
Then it turned into a bit of a rant about a few things that I guess he felt that he had to get off of his chest. But when things were focused back on his experiences in WWII during the Q&A session, his charm and wit came across clear as day.
A few random tidbits for folks who watched the mini-series:
- Buck didn't smoke or drink until after his service, unlike his character in Band of Brothers
- Yes, he did get shot in the butt
- He lost his leg pack on his jump into Normandy because the pilots were 'in a hurry' - the plane was going too fast and the prop wash ripped his leg pack from him
