Carwood Lipton
Carwood Lipton | |
|---|---|
 First Lieutenant Lipton in dress uniform | |
| Nickname(s) | "Lip" |
| Born | 30 January 1920 Huntington, West Virginia, US |
| Died | 16 December 2001 (aged 81) Southern Pines, North Carolina, US |
| Buried | Woodmere Memorial Park, Huntington, West Virginia |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service/ | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1942–1953 |
| Rank |  First Lieutenant |
| Unit | |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Bronze Star Medal (2) Purple Heart (3) |
| Other work | Glass-manufacturing executive |
On the battlefields of Europe, he was promoted to company
He was featured in the 2010 book A Company of Heroes: Personal Memories about the Real Band of Brothers and the Legacy They Left Us,
Early life
Carwood Lipton was born and raised in Huntington, West Virginia. When he was aged 10, his father was killed and his mother paralyzed in an automobile accident.[3] Since Carwood was the eldest child, she told him to be the "man of the family".[3] After completing one year at Huntington's Marshall University,[4] he left school due to financial troubles at home and went to work in war-related production.[3]
After reading an article in
Military career
Lipton rose through the ranks of the company and eventually became company first sergeant, after Bill Evans, the original Company First Sergeant since Toccoa, was killed in action in Normandy, and acting Company First Sergeant James Diel was given a battlefield commission and transferred within the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Lipton always kept the men's spirits high and pushed them to their full potential, an act recognized by the officers of Easy Company.
Normandy
Lipton was the
Later that day, Easy Company was given the task of silencing an artillery battery at the estate of Brécourt Manor, half a mile (1 km) north of
Less than a week later, Lipton took part in the Battle of Carentan, a coastal town that needed to be captured for the Allies at Utah Beach to link up with the Allied forces further toward the east. During the battle, he was wounded in the face and groin by shrapnel from a nearby impact of a German 88 mm artillery shell. His wounds were minor and earned him his first Purple Heart.[8]
Market Garden
Easy Company's slowly depleting ranks became a problem during the run-up to Operation Market Garden. As a result, vacancies were being filled by replacement soldiers. Many Easy Company veterans who joined the company ranks in such a way had positive memories of Lipton, as they easily warmed up to Lipton due to his immediate acceptance of them as fellow soldiers.
Lipton was with Easy Company when they liberated Eindhoven, a city in the southern Netherlands near the country's Belgian border. He was part of an advance team that scouted ahead of the rest of the company. In October 1944, he helped rescue a large detachment of scattered troops of the British 1st Parachute Division who had managed to evade capture after the battle of Arnhem.
Ardennes
After Easy Company's assault on the town of
Lipton helped Easy Company capture Hitler's Eagles' Nest winter retreat at Berchtesgaden, where he became acquainted with Ferdinand Porsche (partially responsible for the Panther and Tiger tanks, as well as the design and production of the Volkswagen Beetle), who spoke English very well.[10] They would eat their meals together while Porsche was in a POW camp. Lipton remained with Easy Company until the unit was disbanded after Japan surrendered.[11] He remained in the Army Reserve through the Korean War, but would never be deployed overseas again.[12]
Later years
Upon Lipton's return to the United States, he enrolled at
In 1966, Lipton moved to Bridgeton, New Jersey, where he became an administrative manager.[14] In 1967, Owens Illinois purchased a 50 percent interest in Giralt Laporta, a Madrid glass container company, and Lipton became general manager of the company.[15] In 1971, he and his wife moved to London, where he was the Director of Manufacturing for eight glass companies in England and Scotland for several years.[14] In 1982, he moved to Toledo, Ohio, and retired a year later from his post as Director of International Development.[14] Lipton spent his retirement years in the town of Southern Pines, North Carolina.[13]
Lipton appeared on two television shows, providing commentary in the HBO mini-series
Carwood Lipton died on 16 December 2001, of pulmonary fibrosis in Southern Pines, North Carolina.[13] He was survived by his wife Marie, three sons from his first marriage to Jo Anne who died in 1975, five grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.[13]
Medals and decorations
Lipton was the recipient of the following military decorations and service medals:
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Post World War II Foreign Award: Belgian World War II Service Medal
Footnotes
- ^ "RootsWeb: Database Index".
- incomplete short citation]
- ^ a b c d Alexander 2005, p. 88.
- ^ a b "NARA – AAD – Display Full Records – Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, c. 1938–1946 (Enlistment Records)".
- ^ Winters 2006, p. 177.
- ^ a b Ambrose 1992, pp. 79–84.
- ^ Ambrose 1992, p. 85.
- ^ Winters 2006, p. 279.
- ^ Winters 2006, p. 201.
- ^ Ambrose 1992, p. 276.
- ^ Winters 2006, p. 25.
- ^ Winters 2006, p. 277.
- ^ a b c d e Goldstein, Richard (24 December 2001). "C. Carwood Lipton, 81, Figure in 'Band of Brothers,' Dies". New York Times. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
- ^ a b c d Jones, Josh (26 September 2001). "Hometown Hero: Marshall alumnus Clifford Carwood Lipton inspires D-Day mini-series "Band of Brothers"". The Parthenon. Archived from the original on 2 November 2007. Retrieved 16 January 2006.
- ^ [No Headline], The Daily Journal (Vinland, New Jersey) 3 August 1967, page 17, accessed 6 November 2017 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14932292/no_headline_the_daily_journal/
Bibliography
- Alexander, L. (2005). Biggest Brother: The Life of Major Dick Winters. London: Penguin. ISBN 9781440678257.
- ISBN 9780743464116.
- Brotherton, M. (2010). A Company of Heroes. New York: Berkley Caliber. ISBN 9780425234204.
- ISBN 9781101207574.
- ISBN 9781101205662.
