Book Review: Call of Duty: My Life Before, During and After the Band of Brothers

The men of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, immortalized in the HBO series Band of Brothers, have inspired me to learn more about these men. With that in mind, I picked up the book called Call of Duty: My Life Before, During and After the Band of Brothers by Lieutenant Lynn “Buck” Compton. Compton served as an officer with Easy Company just after the unit was formed up and through the Battle of Bastogne.

As the title indicated Compton shared his life before becoming part of Easy Company, his time with Easy Company, and half of the book was dedicated to his time after being with Easy Company.

Call of Duty is 275 pages long and spans 30 chapters. The book jumps around a bit especially in the beginning. The first chapter discusses his first training jump and then it flashes back to growing up in Southern California. It returns to training in preparation for World War II. At that point, it settles down and focuses on Compton’s time with Easy Company until he was left the battlefield at Battle of Bastogne.

In all honesty, I was more impressed with his career after leaving World War II then as his time as an officer with Easy Company. For some reason, something that he’s said in his book didn’t necessarily sit well with me as the type of officer he was. This doesn’t mean he wasn’t a good officer. I think he was more a reluctant officer. I think he was just doing his time to get home. And that’s not to say everyone was trying to do the same thing because they were. But it was something in the way he said it that caught me wrong.

But I do have to say that his career after World War II was pretty amazing. He went on to try some of the most famous cases in the United States. The most famous case was the trial of Sirhan Sirhan and the assassination of Robert Kennedy.

Based on what I read in his book, Compton encountered setback after setback. It was interesting to see how he was able to make lemonade out of these situations. I’m confident that it was quite stressful for him, but in the end, he had a career that was pretty remarkable.

The last chapter, he wrote was his rants and reflections. While it’s his book, he is entitled to write these, but I feel they were not necessary to strengthen the book. His comments could certainly alienate quite a number of people. However, it is his book and he obviously is not bashful about expressing what he thinks. His pointed reflections and criticisms showed up in other parts of the book. Once again, not sure if they were necessary to tell the story.

If you are interested in learning more about the men who served with Easy Company, I would definitely recommend reading Call of Duty. When I watch the Band of Brothers again next Christmas break, what I have read in this book will help better explain more of what I’ve seen.

Additional Reading

• Book Review: Shifty’s War: The Authorized Biography of Sergeant Darrell “Shifty” Powers, the Legendary Sharpshooter from the Band of Brothers
• Book Review: Easy Company Soldier: The Legendary Battles of a Sergeant from World War II’s “Band of Brothers”
• Book Review: Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends: Two WWII Paratroopers from the Original Band of Brothers Tell Their Story
• Book Review: Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters
• Book Review: Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest
• Book Review: Parachute Infantry: An American Paratrooper’s Memoir of D-Day and the Fall of the Third Reich
• Book Review: A Company of Heroes: Personal Memories About the Real Band of Brothers and the Legacy They Left Us
• Book Review: We Who Are Alive and Remain: Untold Stories From the Band of Brothers
• Book Review: Biggest Brother: The Life of Major Dick Winters, the Man Who Led the Band of Brothers
• Book Review: D-Day Through German Eyes
• Book Review: Conversations With Major Dick Winters: Life Lessons From the Commander of the Band of Brothers

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