Dennis Zeedyk-Call of Duty: My Life Before, During & After the Band of Brothers

Author of Book: Lt. Lynn "Buck" Compton
Date Read: January 22, 2025

Book Report

Title: Call of Duty: My Life Before, During & After the Band of Brothers
Author: Lt. Lynn “Buck” Compton
Pages: 258
Date: 1/22/25

I chose this book because Band of Brothers is one of my all-time favorite shows. Buck Compton was not one of my favorite characters in the series, but I was still interested in hearing his point of view. I am glad I did because he turned out to be an outstanding individual.

I was very familiar with the story about the 101st Airborne, E Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Buck did not go through basic training & parachute school with the rest of them, but joined them as an assistant platoon leader in December 1943 in Aldbourne, England. Here is the jist of Buck’s life:
1921 – born in Los Angeles, CA and lived in a small apartment with his parents.
Early 1930’s – worked as an extra in Hollywood films and later as a caddy.
1938 – his father committed suicide and was possibly an alcoholic by today’s standards.
1939 – got a football scholarship to UCLA, loved playing baseball, joined a fraternity and was in ROTC. He was well known as a jock on campus and played in the 1942 Rose Bowl against Georgia.
1940 – called to Fort Benning, GA for Officer Candidate School (OCS).
1942 – went to Jump School to become a paratrooper officer.
1943 – joined Easy Company in England
6/6/44 – jumped into Normandy & immediately saw action. He received a Silver Star for valor.
July 44 – returned to England for R&R (depicted differently in the movie)
9/17/44 – Parachuted into Holland as part of Operation Market Garden. He was wounded and returned to a hospital in England.
November 44 – returned to Easy Company near the Belgian-Dutch Border
Mid-December – sent to Bastogne with very little equipment, inadequate clothning/food and suffered greatly, but saw relatively litle action until Christmas Day, when the 101st Airborne was surrounded on all sides by the German Army. From Christmas to January 8, they were under severe firing/artillery barrage. On the last day of the barrage, it was the most intense ever and looked like a slaughterhouse. Medics were slow in coming and Compton could not find his superior officer, Lt Dike. Believing him to be shell-shocked, the colonel sent him off the line for recovery in France. He did not return to Easy Company and stayed in Paris until the end of the war, running athletic programs for visiting US personnel on leave.
January 46 – returned to the US and re-established his relationship with his girlfriend.
May 46 – got married.
September 46 – Started at UCLA but when accepted into law school, he transferred entirely to law school.
December 46 – got divorced.
Early 47 – joined the police force.
October 47 – married his new girlfriend Donna, who was the love of his life.
June 49 – graduated law school & passed the bar exam.
1949 – moved to a house in Hollywood.
1951 – left the police force and joined the DA’s office
1956 – moved to Long Beach
1955-64 climbed the ranks within the DA’s office
1965 – became Chief Deputy DA – the second highest position within the LA DA’s office.
1969 – tried Sirhan Sirhan, Robert Kennedy’s killer.
1970 – became California Court of Appeals judge
1990 – retires
1994 – Donna dies
mid-90’s – Stephen Ambrose writes Band of Brothers which was ultimately made into a miniseries.

Besides the details listed above and the general history of the war, I learned the following from this book:
a) In an airborne unit in 1944, a squad consisted of 12 men. A platoon had four squads including a mortar squad of about 50 men. A company had three platoons of about 150 men. A battalion had about 3 platoons, plus headquarter personnel, of about 500 men. A regiment had three battalions of 1500 men. A division had three regiments plus HQ men. The 101st Airborne had four regiments – three parachute & one glider regiment, totaling 10,000 – 12,000 men in total.

What I learned from this book that will help my prospects after prison are:
1) While retroactive, I should have played sports in high school. Unfortunately because my dad died at the beginning of my sophomore year and we had a farm to run, I did not play any. I now believe it would have made me a more well-rounded person. I guess the only way to help me now is to pay it forward and encourage parents or kids I know to play sports if they can.
2) Again in retrospect, I should have joined the military before or after college. I did not because of my asthma, but should have pushed harder on this or not mentioned it at all. Discipline from the army would have helped me in the long run.
3) 2-3 years of service is a small price to pay for the privilege of being born in the US. Ultimately, we should pay our respects and honor especially to those who gave life and limb in performance of their duty. After prison, I will encourage kids who need guidance to join the military to learn discipline and have time to “grow up.”
4) Based on what I read in this book, what the US continually fights for is freedom from a collectivist society and government. The Nazis of Hitler’s Germany were officially known as the National SOCIALIST Worker’s Party. It was a euphemism for a collectivist form of government that wanted to erode personal freedoms. The communists in Korea and Vietnam were socialists. The USSR was a communist socialist government. Terrorists want to knock out our form of government, which allows freedom of thought, travel, religion and speech. The want to do away with our social norms, which allow for dissenting and controversial opinions and practices. The left of this country want to align themsleves with communists such as Castro and even with Middle Eastern (or other) terrorists. After prison, I need to be sure that I contiually support the Constitution that allows for the freedoms that we have enjoyed in the past to ensure that they can be passed down to my children and grandchildren.