Captain Lewis Nixon

Captain Lewis Nixon was the S-2 (Intelligence Officer) for the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.

Biography[]

Lewis Nixon was born on 30 September 1918 in New York City. He was the grandson of Lewis Nixon, a battleship designer. He went to Yale and to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He became owner of his family's Nixon Nitration Works.

In 1941, Nixon enlisted in the Army at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and completed Basic Training at Camp Croft, South Carolina. He then attended Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning. While there, he met Richard Winters. He left a 2nd Lieutenant, and was assigned duty at Fort Ord, California attached to a MP (Military Police) unit. He joined the Paratroopers early on along with Winters, and was assigned to Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division as commander of 2nd Platoon. He was placed under the command of 1st Lieutenant Herbert Sobel. Sobel was strict, reminding Nixon of his headmaster at school.

During training, Nixon was moved to Battalion staff (apparently as a request to get away from Sobel), and was made S-2. He then earned his jump wings at Fort Benning and completed the rest of his training at Camp Mackall. He and his unit were later sent to Aldbourne, England.

On 6 June 1944, Nixon dropped into Normandy on D-Day as part of Operation Overlord, and managed to link up with Battalion headquarters. Here, he was given a map by Winters, detailing all the German artillery positions in Normandy, and, realizing its importance, ran 3 miles to Utah Beach to pass it up the chain of command. Command was so thrilled with the map, that they sent the first two tanks that landed at Utah Beach to aid the 101st, providing Nixon a ride back to Battalion headquarters.

During Operation Market Garden, part of the Allied plan to recapture Holland, Nixon was nearly killed when a stray shot glanced off his helmet, lightly burning the side of his head. Later on he was promoted to Captain, and was made Regimental S-2.

In the Battle of Bulge, Nixon received a telegram, informing him he was selected to go to the States on a War Bond drive. He didn't want to go, and he told Winters that he could be replaced by 1st Lt. Peacock, who was a new officer who was deemed "Too G.I." and unpopular with the Company.

Nixon then participated in the occupation of Germany. He was the focus of an episode, which was set there and titled "Why We Fight". He was eventually demoted to Battalion S-3 because of his fondness for liquor. During the occupation, he got a letter saying his wife was divorcing him, and that she was taking everything.

At Landsberg, they eventually came to a concentration camp, which revealed to Nixon and the men the horrors of the Holocaust, and showing him why they were fighting. They eventually captured Hitler's "Eagle's Nest" and the war thereafter ended, with Nixon having not fired a single shot. Nixon was eventually 'given' first pickings to Herman Goering's alcohol storeroom by Winters.

After the war, Nixon married Grace Umezawa in 1956, and gave up alcohol. He and Winters remained good friends all their lives. Winters was best man at Nixon's wedding to Grace. They lived at Grace's hilltop home in Sherman Oaks, CA until his death on January 11, 1995 due to complications from diabetes.

Personality[]

Nixon was a friendly, easy-going officer described by Winters as "a free spirit who enjoyed the wild life and partied with the best of them." While Nixon was an exemplary officer in the field, he never fired his carbine in the line of duty, despite serving in Holland, Normandy and Bastogne; the latter particularly surprising according to Winters. Nixon was rather cynical of his lack of action, leading to a dismal outlook on the war after he lost his squad when jumping in to Germany. He wasn't away from the front lines however, almost being shot in the head when the Company retreated from their attack on a town in Holland, saved by his helmet and was an observer in reserve in other battles such as the battle of Foy.

Awards[]

CIB (Combat Infantryman Badge)

Parachutist Badge with 3 combat stars

Purple Heart

American Defense Medal

European African Middle Eastern Campaign Ribbon with 3 Battle Stars and a Bronze Arrowhead

World War Two Victory Medal

World War Two Army of Occupation Award with Germany Clasp

French Croix de Guerre (Cross of Valor)

Presidential Unit Citation with Bronze Oak Leaf

5 Overseas Service Stripes

Ruptured Duck Patch (WWII Discharge Patch)

Quotes[]

Richard Winters : [about Nixon's drinking] Nix, what are you going to do in battle? Cpt. Nixon : Oh, I have every confidence in my scrounging abilities, and I have a case of Vat 69 hidden in your footlocker. Richard Winters : [chuckles, thinks it's a joke. Pauses, realizes that he's not kidding] Really? Cpt. Nixon : Oh, yeah.
Cpt. Nixon : Sobel's a genius. I had a headmaster in prep school who was just like him. I know the type. Richard Winters : Lew, Michaelangelo's a genius. Beethoven's a genius. Cpt. Nixon : You know a man in this company who wouldn't double-time Currahee with a full pack, just to piss in that man's morning coffee?
Cpt. Nixon : [regarding the flower on a dead German soldier] That's edelweiss. It grows in the mountains, above the treeline. Which means he climbed up there to get it. Supposed to be the mark of a true soldier.
Richard Winters : [Cpt. Nixon won't wake up] Let's go. C'mon, you got 10 minutes. Cpt. Nixon : [sleepily] Go away. Richard Winters : C'mon, big guy, let's go. Cpt. Nixon : Ah, leave me alone! Richard Winters : [tossing the contents of a nearby pitcher on Nix' head] Okay... Cpt. Nixon : GOD DAMMIT! Ahhh, that's my own PISS, for Christ's sake!
Cpt. Nixon : Hitler's dead. Liebgott : Holy shit. Cpt. Nixon : Shot himself in Berlin. Sgt. Denver 'Bull' Randleman : Is the war over, sir? Cpt. Nixon : No. We have orders to Berchtesgaden. We move out in one hour. Pvt. David Kenyon Webster : Why? The man's not home. He should have killed himself three years ago. Saved us a lot of trouble. Cpt. Nixon : Yeah, he should have. But he didn't.
Cpt. Nixon : What do you think about New Jersey? Richard Winters : New Jersey? Cpt. Nixon : There's a company in Nixon, New Jersey. It's called Nixon Nitration Works. Richard Winters : Sounds picturesque. Cpt. Nixon : Yeah, well, oddly enough, I know the owners. Probably gonna expect me to make something of myself. I thought maybe I'd drag you along with me. Richard Winters : Are you offering me a job? Cpt. Nixon : We'll see how you do on your interview, but, you know, a man of your qualifications... I think probably scrape something up commensurate with your current salary level.
Nixon : Division has decided to pluck one officer from each regiment who served in the heroic defense of Bastogne and send them back to the States on a thirty day furlough... get him out banging the drum for the war bonds, that kind of thing. Turns out I've been plucked. Richard Winters : Hey, that's fantastic, Lew. Good for you. Nixon : Thank you. Richard Winters : But how does your leaving help me? Nixon : It doesn't. I'm not going. I've already seen the States, I grew up there. That's why I came to Europe. I just wish they told me a war was going on. Anyway, this thing is wasted on me, but I'm sure we could find an officer somewhere in this battalion that could use a long trip home.
Cpt. Nixon : [about Major Winters] I heard reports about a redheaded eskimo. Thought I'd check it out.
Richard Winters : [after a bullet ricochets off of Nixon's helmet] NIX! Cpt. Nixon : I'm all right! I'm all right... am I all right? [looking at Winters annoyed] Cpt. Nixon : Stop looking at me like that!
Cpt. Nixon : What do you think I should write these parents, Dick? Richard Winters : Hear what I said, Nix? You've been demoted. Cpt. Nixon : Yeah, demoted, gotcha. Because I don't know how to tell them their kids never made it out of the goddamn plane. Richard Winters : You tell them what you always tell them: their sons died as heroes. Cpt. Nixon : [cynically] You really still believe that? Richard Winters : [pauses, considering] Yeah. Yeah, I do. [Challenges] Richard Winters : Don't you? Cpt. Nixon : [chuckles, uncertainly]
Richard Winters : Harry, fire's not a good idea. Harry Welsh : Just a couple of minutes. We're in a dell. Richard Winters : A dell? Like where fairies and gnomes live? Cpt. Nixon : I swear I thought I could smell a fire... I DID smell a fire. Are you out of your mind? Richard Winters : Well, we're in a dell. Cpt. Nixon : Huh?
Cpt. Nixon : Who are you? 2nd Lt. Henry Jones : 2nd Lt. Henry Jones, sir. Cpt. Nixon : Right, our West Pointer. When'd you graduate? 2nd Lt. Henry Jones : June 6th, sir. Cpt. Nixon : Of last year? 2nd Lt. Henry Jones : Yes, D-Day, sir. Cpt. Nixon : [laughs] Don't get hurt.
Richard Winters : How'd it go? The drop? Cpt. Nixon : We took a direct hit over the drop zone. I got out, two others got out. Richard Winters : And the rest of the boys? Cpt. Nixon : Oh, they blew up in Germany somewhere... Boom.
Richard Winters : Happy VE Day. Pvt. Patrick O'Keefe : VE Day? Cpt. Nixon : Victory... in Europe.
Herbert Sobel : What is this? Anybody? Cpt. Nixon : Er... it's a can of peaches, Sir. Herbert Sobel : Lieutenant Nixon thinks this is a can of peaches. That is incorrect, Lieutenant. Your weekend pass is cancelled. This is United States Army property which was taken without authorization from my mess facility. And I will not tolerate thievery in my unit. Whose footlocker is this? Richard Winters : Private Park's, Sir. Herbert Sobel : Get rid of him.
Harry Welsh : I made up my mind, Nix. I got the points, I'm going back to Kitty. Cpt. Nixon : Harry, do you really think that Kitty hasn't run off with some 4-F by now? Harry Welsh : [laughing] Son of a bitch, that's not even funny... Richard Winters : Harry, ignore him.