and Neal McDonough, who portrayed Compton in the miniseries. The crowd included four actors from 'Band of Brothers': Michael Cudlitz, James Madio, Richard Speight Jr. We're celebrating longevity more than anything.' 'We didn't expect anything more than those other guys. 'All I can say is it's flattering - and kind of embarrassing,' the Skagit Valley Herald reported Compton as saying. His family estimated that nearly 400 people showed up in January for a 90th birthday celebration for Compton at the Skagit Regional Airport in Burlington, including children of other 'Band of Brothers' veterans. He also continued to receive fan mail from around the world. In the years after 'Band of Brothers,' Compton was asked to speak at local schools and at military bases in Germany and South Korea. 'I don't think any of them in their wildest dreams thought at 80 years of age they'd be getting this attention.' 'I think it probably shocked all of them,' she said. Syndee Compton said her father was surprised by suddenly being in the spotlight. Then it became more about him being in the military rather than his being a judge or a prosecutor.' 'Not too many people knew about his military heroics until the miniseries,' said Tracy Compton.Īs her sister Syndee put it: 'His career as a prosecutor and a judge overrode his military career until 'Band of Brothers' came out, and then it just went crazy. He fought at Carentan, participated in Operation Market Garden in Holland and helped defend Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge.īefore the war was over, he had been awarded a Silver Star and a Purple Heart He was 90.Īfter parachuting into Normandy during the early hours of D-day in June 1944, Compton was part of the assault group that destroyed the German artillery during the battle at Brecourt Manor.

11, died Saturday at his daughter Tracy's home in Burlington, Wash., said his family. Ambrose's 1992 bestseller.Ĭompton, who suffered a heart attack Jan. Ronald Reagan appointed him to the 2 n d District Court of Appeal in 1970, he was known as one of its most conservative jurists.īut it was long after he retired from the bench in 1990 that Compton became known for something that previously had been mentioned only in passing in newspaper articles about him: his World War II military service.Ĭompton was a first lieutenant in Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment in the Army's 101st Airborne Division - one of the true-life characters who gained late-in-life renown when they were portrayed in 'Band of Brothers,' the 2001 HBO miniseries based on historian Stephen E. 'Buck' Compton was known for heading the three-man team that successfully prosecuted Sirhan B. As a Los Angeles deputy district attorney, Lynn D.

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