Athletes - Lynn "Buck" Compton

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	Athletes - Lynn "Buck" Compton

Lynn D. Buck Compton (born December 31 1921) is a retired California Court of Appeal Judge who served as the lead prosecutor in Sirhan Sirhan's trial for the murder of Robert F. Kennedy. During World War II, Compton won a Silver Star while serving as a Second Lieutenant commanding the 2nd platoon of "Easy Company" in the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Division, which gained him his promotion to First Lieutenant. His recent fame is from the Band of Brothers series on HBO, in which Neal McDonough portrayed him. Compton was a star athlete at UCLA, where he was a pitcher on the university's baseball team (Jackie Robinson was a teammate), and played with the UCLA football team in the Rose Bowl on January 1, 1943. He also participated in ROTC, and in early 1943, he joined the Army and was assigned to E/506 in England prior to D-Day. During the action at Brécourt Manor, Compton and others, under the leadership of First Lieutenant Richard Winters, assaulted a German battery operating four 105mm cannons directed at Utah Beach, disabling the guns and routing the enemy. Compton was awarded the Silver Star for that action. Episode two of the miniseries Band of Brothers depicts this assault. The former college baseball player is also shown throwing a grenade at a fleeing German soldier. Well timed, the grenade explodes upon impact with the fleeing soldier's head, instantly killing the German. Later that year, Compton was wounded while participating in Operation Market-Garden, the Allies' ill-fated attempt to seize a number of bridges in Holland and cross the Rhine River into Germany. He returned to his unit in time for the months-long siege that would become known as the Battle of the Bulge. In January 1945, Compton left Easy Company for another assignment. According to Band of Brothers, his transfer was due in part to combat fatigue.

After the war, Compton married and had two children. In 1946, he turned down an offer to play minor league baseball, choosing instead to concentrate on a career in the law. He attended Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and became a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. He joined the District Attorney's office in 1951 as a deputy district attorney, and was promoted in 1964 to chief deputy district attorney. During his time with the District Attorney's office, he prosecuted Sirhan Sirhan for the murder of Robert F. Kennedy. In 1970, Governor Ronald Reagan appointed him as an Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal. He retired from the bench in 1990 and now resides in Washington, where he sometimes does commentary for a local radio station.

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