Lewis Nixon (United States Army officer)

Lewis Nixon
Nickname(s)	"Blackbeard" "Lew" "Nix"
Born	(1918-09-30)September 30, 1918 New York City, New York, United States
Died	January 11, 1995(1995-01-11) (aged 76) Los Angeles, California, United States
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1941–1945
Rank	Captain
Unit	Infantry Branch
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of Normandy Operation Market Garden Battle of the Bulge Operation Varsity
Awards	American Campaign Medal Purple Heart World War II Victory Medal Bronze Star Presidential Unit Citation European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (3) American Defense Service Medal Army of Occupation Medal Croix de Guerre Belgian World War II Service Medal Combat Infantryman Badge Parachutist Badge (3 combat jump stars)
Relations	Katherine Page (wife) Stanhope Wood Nixon (father) Doris Ryer Nixon (mother) Lewis Nixon I (grandfather) Sally Lewis Wood (grandmother)

Captain Lewis Nixon III (September 30, 1918 – January 11, 1995)^[1] was a United States Army officer who, during World War II, served with Easy Company of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Division ("The Screaming Eagles"). Nixon was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by Ron Livingston.

Youth

Lewis Nixon was born to Stanhope Wood Nixon and Doris Ryer Nixon on September 30, 1918 in New York City. He was the elder brother of Blanche Nixon (born 1923) and Fletcher Ryer Nixon (who died in infancy in 1922).^[2] He was a grandson of shipbuilder Lewis Nixon (1861–1940) and Sally Wood Nixon (died 1937). At age seven, Lewis took third place in the model yacht regatta at Conservatory Lake in Central Park on May 22, 1926, earning a gold and bronze medal in the 35-inch (890 mm) boat class.^[3] As a youth, Nixon lived in New York City and Montecito, California; he traveled the world extensively, including Germany, France, and England. Nixon graduated from the Santa Barbara school before attending Yale University^[4] for two years.^[5]

He enlisted in the United States Army on January 14, 1941 in Trenton, New Jersey.^[5] On December 20, 1941, he married Katharine Page of Phoenix, Arizona.^[6]

Military service

Nixon served during World War II and, after graduating from Army Officer Candidate School in 1941 as an infantry second lieutenant, he made the decision to volunteer for the parachute infantry, part of the U.S. Army's fledgling airborne forces. He was assigned to Easy Company of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (506th PIR), commanded by Colonel Robert Sink. The 506th was initially an independent regiment until June 1943, when it became part of the 101st Airborne Division. He went through the regimental unit training and pre-airborne training at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, and Airborne School at Fort Benning, eventually training at many locations throughout the United States and, in September 1943, was sent to Aldbourne, Wiltshire, England, in preparation for the Allied invasion of Normandy.

Nixon was appointed as the 2nd Battalion intelligence officer (S2),^[7] and showed enough skill at his job to be moved up to the regimental level as the 506th S2, shortly after Easy Company fought in the Battle of Carentan on June 12, 1944. He served in Normandy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany, though he never fired a shot during the war. However, in the Netherlands he was hit by a stray bullet from a German MG 42 machine gun. The bullet went through his helmet, but only grazed his forehead and left a small burn mark. Nixon's most notable contribution to the war effort occurred on D-Day, June 6, 1944, after jumping into Normandy the night before and shortly after the Brécourt Manor Assault, when First Lieutenant Richard Winters (his close friend) handed him a map containing the locations of all German artillery and machine gun positions throughout that area of the Cotentin Peninsula. Nixon, realizing this to be an essential piece of intelligence, ran the 3 miles to where the 4th Infantry Division was landing at Utah Beach and passed the information up the chain of command. Senior commanders were thrilled with the information provided and sent the first two Sherman tanks to reach Utah Beach to support the paratroopers.^[8] He developed a drinking problem,^[9] and was eventually removed and assigned back down to the 2nd Battalion as the operations officer (S3), where he continued to display his skill at planning and operations, but did not have to deal with the politics and high visibility at the regimental level. In Berchtesgaden, he had first choice of a captured, extensive wine collection originally assembled at Hermann Göring's orders, comprising bottles which were stolen from wineries across France and other European occupied territories.^[10][11]

Nixon was one of the few men of the 101st Airborne to jump with another division or regiment. On March 24, 1945, Nixon was assigned by Major General Maxwell Taylor, the Commanding General (CG) of the 101st, to be an observer with Major General William Miley's 17th Airborne Division during Operation Varsity, the airborne crossing of the river Rhine.^[12] Nixon's plane took a direct hit and only he and three others got out.^[13] He is also one of very few men in the 101st to earn three Combat Jump Stars on his Jump Wings.^[12]

Nixon ended World War II with the rank of captain and did not fire a single shot in combat. He saw the defeat of Germany, and returned home in September 1945.^[14]

He is known and remembered for his love of the blended whisky Vat 69.^[15] This is commemorated several times both in the book and miniseries Band of Brothers by Stephen E. Ambrose. Lewis Nixon was also remembered as always having a source of whisky no matter where the company was.

Later years

After the war, Nixon worked at the family-owned Nixon Nitration Works in Edison (then Raritan Township), New Jersey alongside his father, Stanhope. Wartime friend Richard Winters was offered a job by Nixon and eventually became a personnel manager at the firm.^[16] After World War II, the plastics industry evolved from nitrate-based products to acetate-based products, and the company failed to make the transition.^[16] In 1951, as the company downsized, it gave 48 acres (190,000 m²) of land, and a dam, to the City of New Brunswick.^[16]

Nixon had two failed marriages before marrying his last wife, Grace Umezawa, in 1956.^[15] She had been a student ^[17] in California in the spring of 1942 when the President ordered the internment of Japanese Americans.^[18] Dick Winters served as the best man at the wedding. Nixon got his life back together and overcame his alcoholism during their marriage. He died of complications from diabetes in Los Angeles, California, on January 11, 1995.

Nixon, New Jersey, is now a section of Edison Township; it is located in Middlesex County, New Jersey. The former site of the Nixon Nitration Works lies beneath Middlesex County College and Raritan Center Industrial Park.

Medals and decorations

	Bronze Star with one Oak Leaf Cluster
	Purple Heart
	Presidential Unit Citation with one Oak Leaf Cluster
	American Defense Service Medal
	American Campaign Medal
	European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 3 service stars and arrowhead device
	World War II Victory Medal
	Army of Occupation Medal
	Croix de guerre
	Belgian World War II Service Medal
	Combat Infantryman Badge
	Parachutist Badge with 3 combat jump stars

References

Bibliography

• Ambrose, Stephen E. (1992). Band of Brothers: Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7434-6411-6. 
• Winters, Major Dick; Kingseed, Cole C. (2006). Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters. Berkley Hardcover. ISBN 978-0-425-20813-7. 

External links

• Find A Grave