The Off Topic Topic

[Barrister]

Huh.... didn't see a soul, yet I'm eating pizza. Stupid fucks.

Your pizza delivery guy must have been a JD I'm assuming.

[Eddie Teach]

 

[katmai]

RIP

Band of Brothers' soldier dies at 90 in Wash.
Associated PressAssociated Press – 6 hrs ago

BURLINGTON, Wash. (AP) — Lynn D. "Buck" Compton, a veteran whose World War II exploits were depicted in the HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers," has died, his family said.

Compton died Saturday in Burlington, Wash., after having a heart attack last month, the family told the Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/AmfhYe ) in a story Tuesday.

In January, nearly 200 guests, including actors from the miniseries, attended his 90th birthday party, the Skagit Valley Herald (http://is.gd/XScV1b ) reported.

"To us he wasn't really a war hero, he was just a hero, period," Tracy Compton told the Herald.

Lynn Compton also is remembered for his legal career in California. He headed the team that prosecuted Sirhan B. Sirhan for the slaying of Robert F. Kennedy and was appointed to the 2nd District Court of Appeal in 1970 by Gov. Ronald Reagan. He retired from the bench in 1990.

He was awarded a Silver Star and a Purple Heart during World War II. But it wasn't until later in life that he became famous for his military service as a first lieutenant in Easy Company after the unit parachuted into France on D-Day in 1944. Historian Stephen E. Ambrose's 1992 best seller about the unit was made into the 2001 TV series.

"His career as a prosecutor and a judge overrode his military career until 'Band of Brothers' came out, and then it just went crazy," daughter Syndee Compton said.

A passage in the book recalled the D-Day invasion of France: "Compton had been an All-American catcher on the UCLA baseball team. The distance to the fleeing enemy was about the same as from home plate to second base. Compton threw his grenade on a straight line — no arch — and it hit a German in the head as it exploded."

Compton was embarrassed by the attention at his birthday party at Skagit Regional Airport that was attended by children of other Band of Brothers veterans.

"All I can say is it's flattering — and kind of embarrassing," Compton told the Herald. "We didn't expect anything more than those other guys (in the war). We're celebrating longevity more than anything."

The guests included "Band of Brothers" actors Michael Cudlitz, James Madio, Richard Speight Jr. and Neal McDonough, who portrayed Compton in the miniseries.

McDonough recalled meeting with Compton the day before he flew to London to begin filming "Band of Brothers," and later peppering him with questions about his time during the war.

"When you play a historical figure, you have to do it right and tell the truth," McDonough told the Times, recalling that Compton told him he was just doing his job.

"He'd say that's what soldiers do," said McDonough, who kept in touch with Compton and nicknamed his 6-year-old son Morgan "Little Buck" in his honor.

Tracy Compton said her father thought McDonough did a wonderful job portraying him and that "he laughed and said Neal was better-looking than he ever was."

Compton was born in Los Angeles on Dec. 31, 1921. He majored in physical education and minored in education at UCLA, where he lettered in football and baseball. He started at guard in the 1943 Rose Bowl game against Georgia and was selected all-conference catcher while captain of the baseball team in 1942.

He also participated in the ROTC program and entered active service in February 1943 at age 21.

After the war, he became a Los Angeles police officer and worked his way through Loyola Law School. He was a detective in the Central Burglary Division before joining the district attorney's office in 1951. He was assistant district attorney when District Attorney Evelle J. Younger chose him as his chief deputy in 1966.

Compton's memoir "Call of Duty: My Life Before, During and After the Band of Brothers," written with Marcus Brotherton, was published in 2008.

His wife, Donna, died in 1994. Along with his two daughters, he is survived by four grandchildren.

[CountDeMoney]

Lynn Compton also is remembered for his legal career in California. He headed the team that prosecuted Sirhan B. Sirhan for the slaying of Robert F. Kennedy and was appointed to the 2nd District Court of Appeal in 1970 by Gov. Ronald Reagan. He retired from the bench in 1990.

Wow.  Didn't know that.

[Syt]

It is a golden age when you can order pizza from your iPad without any human contact whatsoever.

USA! USA!

I order home delivery exclusively online, because otherwise the foreigners at the other end of the line will mess up the order. There's a few online platforms here where you can search delivery services by city district/delivery area, cuisine, customer rating etc. for the small restaurants that aren't part of a chain.

[Ideologue]

I only do pick-up.  I ain't tipping some guy for driving a car and getting me a pizza 45 minutes after I started getting hungry.

[DGuller]

Putin has speculated that opposition forces may "bump off" a prominent opposition leader to pin it on Russian authorities.     I wonder whose assassination FSB is planning right now.  My bet is on Alexey Navalny.

[LaCroix]

i love the denver airport for one reason: mesa verde

[Tonitrus]

Google Street View has St Petersburg and Moscow areas now...killing hours on that crap. 

[Sheilbh]

Andrew Breitbart died at 43

[DGuller]

Heart gave out at 43?  *cough* Cokehead.

[Eddie Teach]

Maybe a result of his heart growing three sizes in one night? 

(RIP dude, political differences aside.)

[MadImmortalMan]

Wow, that's young.


Also Davy Jones of the Monkees died yesterday at 66.

[mongers]

Wow, that's young.


Also Davy Jones of the Monkees died yesterday at 66.

Yeah a very young looking 66 and yet he was about from just after the Beatles got popular. 

[Valmy]

On this date in 1836 Texas published this thing:



And then eventually kicked some major ass.  That was sure awesome we have only gone down hill since.

Anyway Viva Tejas!  176 years old today but don't look a day over 29...or act a day over 15.