Autographed "Band of Brothers" Movie Poster #1

BUCK COMPTON
Lynn "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.


"WILD BILL" GUARNERE
Born in South Philadelphia, by 1942 Bill had a war essential job helping to build Sherman tanks at the Baldwin Locomotive Works but chose to enlist in the paratroopers. He was among the original members of Easy Company assembled at Camp Toccoa in Georgia where he became a mortar squad leader in Easy's 2nd Platoon, under command of Lt. Dick Winters.

Having lost a brother fighting the Germans in Italy, Bill was determined to get revenge and did so on D-Day, fighting with a fierceness and intensity that earned him the nickname, "Wild Bill." There, Bill was among a small number of Easy Company paratroopers to assault Brecourt Manor, an action for which he was awarded the Silver Star.

Bill would later fight in Holland, where he was wounded and sent to recover in an English hospital. Fearing reassignment to another unit, Bill broke out, went AWOL and rejoined Easy in time for their participation in the defense of Bastogne. Not long after, Bill lost his right leg during an artillery bombardment in the woods near Foy, Belgium.

Evacuated to safety, Bill would survive the war, having been awarded the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts. He would go on to help organize the Easy Company reunions for decades to come. If there was any one man who deserves credit for keeping Easy Company together in the post-war years, it goes to Bill Guarnere.

Bill died in 2014, leaving behind two sons, nine grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. Today, a statue of Bill stands proudly in South Philly.


DONALD MALARKEY
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. Don Malarkey, along with his longtime friend Buck Compton, are today recognized as two of the most memorable characters of the Band of Brothers mini-series.