Carwood Lipton
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| Clifford Carwood Lipton | |
|---|---|
| 30 January 1920 - 16 December 2001 | |
 Carwood Lipton at Camp Toccoa, Georgia |
|
| Nickname | Lip |
| Place of birth | Huntington, West Virginia |
| Place of death | Southern Pines, North Carolina |
| Years of service | 1942-1945 |
| Rank | First Lieutenant |
| Unit | Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 101st Airborne Division, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment |
| Awards | - Purple Heart (3OLC) - Bronze Star (2OLC) - World War II Victory Medal - Presidential Unit Citation (2OLC) - Orange Lanyard of the Royal Netherlands Army |
| Other work | Glass-making Executive |
Clifford Carwood "Lip" Lipton (January 30, 1920 - December 16, 2001) was a United States Army officer in the 101st Airborne Division, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Easy Company. Lipton joined the Army in 1942 as a Private. On the battlefields of Europe he was promoted to Company First Sergeant and ultimately was given a battlefield commission to Second Lieutenant. He said "it was the greatest honor ever awarded" to him.
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[edit] Early life
Lipton was born and raised in Huntington, West Virginia. His father died in an automobile accident when he was ten. His mother expected him, as the eldest, to be the "man of the family". After completing one year at Huntington's Marshall University, he left school due to financial troubles at home and went to work in war-related production. After reading an article in Life Magazine on the difficulty of paratrooper training, and how the airborne was one of the most elite branches of the army, Lipton enlisted and joined the paratroops in 1942.
[edit] Army training
Lipton shot through the ranks of the company eventually becoming the Company First Sergeant shortly after D-Day (Operation Chicago/Overlord). Lipton was always keeping the men's spirits high, and pushed them to their full potentials. This was recognized by the officers of Easy, the 101st, and the 506th.
Even closer to the D-Day invasion of France, Lipton and several other non-commissioned officers decided to turn in their stripes, and requested they be transferred to another company. This was because the non-commissioned officers believed their leader, then Captain Herbert Sobel to be an incompetent leader. Lipton and the others were given some verbal abuse but were otherwise left unpunished (S/Sgt. Myron Ranney was demoted to Private, and another Staff Sergeant was transferred out of the company, but the other NCOs were not punished).
[edit] During WWII
Carwood Lipton was the jumpmaster of one of the C-47 Skytrains that the paratroopers used to jump into Normandy. Lipton jumped into Normandy and was able to rendezvous with then First Lieutenant Richard Winters, Easy's executive officer, and several other men from the 101st, and two more from the 82nd Airborne Division. They were later joined by several more Easy members, and worked their way just south of their objective of Carentan.
Lipton was teamed with Private Myron Ranney during the Brecourt Manor Assault, where Easy Company was assigned the task of destroying four 105 mm howitzers (originally thought to be 88 mm) that were firing down on Utah Beach. Lipton and Ranney climbed up a tree and shot some Germans from a distance. Easy Company managed to destroy the four guns, and Lipton was awarded the Bronze Star for his actions.
Lipton was involved on the assault on Carentan and was injured by shrapnel, one in the face and one nearly castrated him. He was awarded the Purple Heart. Lipton was out of Easy for a few days and happily returned as soon as possible.
Around the time Operation Market Garden was scheduled to take off, Easy Company's slowly depleting ranks became a problem, and were refilled by replacement soldiers. Carwood Lipton is remembered by many of the replacement veterans as being one of the very few men who immediately accepted them as true soldiers. He helped the replacements along in Operation Market Garden. Lipton was with Easy when they liberated Eindhoven, and was part of an advanced scout team that scouted the bridge ahead of the rest of the Company.
A small team of scouts were on the crossroads in Holland when a member of their squad was badly wounded by a German Model 24 Stielhandgranate and Easy was called to action. They were assigned the task of destroying any remaining Germans at the crossroads. Lipton was not among the original assault team of around ten men, but joined up the next morning with Easy, bringing the rest of the company. Easy Company managed to destroy over two companies of SS situated at the Crossroads due to launching a surprise attack on their position.
Operation Pegasus was a small, and potentially low-risk operation where Easy Company were to cross the river on boats supplied by Canadian Engineers, and bring back over 140 British Red Devils who were trapped when Easy pulled back from Arnhem. Lipton and First Lieutenant Heyliger oversaw the Operation to success.
Under the new command of First Lieutenant Norman Dike, a leader perhaps worse than the Company thought Herbert Sobel was, Lipton gave the men hope in the Ardennes Forest overlooking Foy, and became the unofficial commanding officer due to Dike's incompetent leadership. During an artillery barrage at the time, Lipton confessed about laughing as he saw the shells burst, reminding him of his childhood on the 4th of July with fireworks. Lipton said he wouldn't have laughed if he knew what happened to one of his fellow soldiers.
After Easy Company's assault on the town of Foy, Lipton was told he would be given a battlefield commission as a Second Lieutenant. Carwood Lipton received his official battlefield commission as a Second Lieutenant in Haguenau. Lipton later witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust at Landsberg, where he and the rest of Easy Company liberated the camp.
Lipton assisted Easy in the capture of the Nazis' symbolic home, Berchtesgaden. While there, Lipton became acquainted with Ferdinand Porsche (partially responsible for the Panther and Tiger tanks), who could speak English very well. They ate their meals together while Porsche was at the POW camp L.A.G.A.R.
Lipton remained with Easy until the end of the war, up until Easy Company was disbanded (after the official surrender of the Japanese and the Germans). He remained in the army reserves through the Korean War, but was not deployed overseas again.
[edit] After the war
Upon Lipton's return to the United States, he enrolled at Marshall University and completed his final three years graduating with a degree in Engineering. Fresh with his degree in Engineering, Lipton got a job with Owens Illinois Inc., a manufacturer of glass products and plastics packaging. He rapidly advanced in the company and by 1952 he had become Chief Operator.
In 1966, he moved to Bridgeton, New Jersey where he became an Administrative Manager, and in 1971, he and his wife moved to London where he was the Director of Manufacturing for eight different glass companies in England and Scotland for several years. In 1982, he moved to Toledo, Ohio and retired a year later from his post as Director of International Development.
[edit] Carwood Lipton in the media
Carwood Lipton has appeared on two separate television shows, providing his own commentary in the popular HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and the inspirational true story of Easy Company, We Stand Alone Together: The Men of Easy Company.
Lipton was portrayed in the Band of Brothers miniseries by Donnie Wahlberg.
[edit] Death
C. Carwood Lipton died on December 16, 2001 of pulmonary fibrosis in Southern Pines, North Carolina.
[edit] References
- Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest, Stephen Ambrose, Simon & Schuster, 1992. ISBN 0-7434-6411-7
[edit] See also
- Parachutist Badge Lipton, and the rest of the 506th received this when they completed their training.
- Richard Winters The first combat leader of Easy.
- Ronald Speirs The final leader of Easy Company.
- M1 Garand Lipton's rifle of choice.
- First Lieutenant Lipton's final ranking.
