Senate approves Benton resolution honoring World War II hero Buck Compton

March 7, 2007

OLYMPIA…A resolution honoring World War II hero Lynn D. “Buck” Compton, sponsored by Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, was adopted by the Senate today.

“Buck Compton dedicated his life to the service of a grateful nation,” Benton said. “Buck Compton declined the opportunity after the war to play professional baseball, he said no to fame and fortune, and yes to service and sacrifice as a Los Angeles police officer, a prosecutor and a judge. Today, he continues to speak and inspire generations; and with great dignity, he shares his humble respect for the men and women in today’s military who are serving at great risk and sacrifice.” 

First Lt. Compton was a member of Easy Company, 506^th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101^st Airborne Division, U.S. Army – a rifle company. He participated in the Allied D-Day Invasion and the Battle of the Bulge. 

Compton was awarded the Silver Star for his part in the action that disabled a German battery operating four 105 mm howitzers directed at Utah Beach, a code name for one of the Allied landing beaches during the D-Day invasion of Normandy.

On D-Day, Compton and other paratroopers from his unit were assigned the task of securing a causeway over swamp land near Omaha Beach. 

He was awarded the Purple Heart after being wounded during Operation Market Garden where Allied Forces attempted to seize a number of bridges in Holland and cross the Rhine River into Germany.  

During his remarks to the Senate, Compton said he really didn’t do anything any other soldier would not have done. He also said he has met with today’s soldiers and told them that America’s involvement in Iraq is a fight against a more tyrannical enemy than he faced. He said “the war in Iraq must be won.” 

“He reminds me so much of my father,” Benton said. “My father always talked with great humility about his military service during World War II and his participation in the D-Day invasion. He didn’t think what he did was special. That is the reason why I worked so hard for a memorial to World War II veterans on the capitol campus. I do think what Buck Compton and my dad did was special.”  

Benton served on the World War II Memorial Advisory Committee. The memorial is located on the northeast lawn of the west campus, beside 11th Avenue. It was dedicated on May 28, 1999. 

After his military service, Compton attended law school and continued to serve his country and community in civilian life as a prosecutor. In 1969, he helped win the conviction of Sirhan Sirhan for the assassination of Robert Kennedy. The following year, he was appointed as an associate justice of the California Court of Appeals. He retired from the bench in 1986; and currently lives in Burlington, Wash. 

Lt. Compton was a main character in the book by Stephen Ambrose, The Band of Brothers, and an HBO miniseries of the same name with the tagline: “They depended on each other. And the world depended on them.” 

Compton was an all-conference catcher and team captain in baseball at UCLA. He was also a guard on the 1942 UCLA football team that became the first Bruin squad to defeat its crosstown rival the University of Southern California. Later that season, his team swept into the Rose Bowl, UCLA’s first trip to Pasadena in school history.  

One month after playing in the Rose Bowl, Compton enlisted in the Army.  

Senate Resolution 8646  

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Additional contact Penny Drost at (360) 786-7522
or penny.drost@leg.wa.gov