Lt. Col (Ret.) Lynn "Buck" Compton  «  1st Lt., USA, Co E, 506 PIR, 101st Airborne Division

Buck Compton was born in Los Angeles in 1921.  While studying at UCLA from 1939 to 1943, he lettered on the football and baseball teams.  Compton was on the UCLA team that played in the 1943 Rose Bowl.  He participated in ROTC for four years then left his studies to attend Officers Candidate School at Ft. Benning, Georgia, where he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in May 1943. 

Compton joined Company E, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment in England in December 1943.  He participated in all of 101st Airborne Division's major campaigns in the European Theatre of Operations.  He received the Silver Star and Bronze Star awards for valor and the Purple Heart for being wounded in the line of duty.

Compton remained in the active reserves from 1946 to 1966 and retired as a Lt. Colonel.  He completed a degree in law, and subsequently served as an LAPD detective, as a Deputy DA, and as Chief Deputy DA for LA County.  In 1968, Compton handled the prosecution of Sirhan Sirhan for the assassination of Robert Kennedy.  Governor Ronald Reagan appointed Compton as an Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal, a post from which he retired in 1990.

Don Malarkey  «  Tech Sergeant, USA, Co E, 506 PIR, 101st Airborne Division

Donald Malarkey was born in Astoria, Oregon in 1921.  He was in his first semester at the University of Oregon in the fall of 1941 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.  After the attack, Malarkey tried enlisting in the Marines, but he was turned down because of dental problems.  In July 1942, he volunteered for the paratroops of the United States Army, becoming a member of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne.  He received the Bronze Star Medal for his involvement in the Brécourt Manor assault on D-Day in Normandy.  During his time with Easy Company he was promoted to the rank of Tech Sergeant.  Malarkey was involved in combat in Normandy, Operation Market Garden in Holland, Bastogne, and Germany.  In the 2001 miniseries, "Band of Brothers," Malarkey was portrayed by actor Scott Grimes, now a star of the TV show E.R.  Today, Don Malarkey and his longtime friend Buck Compton are recognized as two celebrated characters of the Band of Brothers.