Joseph D. Liebgott

*"120-pound Liebgott, ex-San Francisco cabby...the skinniest and, at non-financial moments, one of the funniest men in E Company. He had the added distinction of being one of the few Jews in the paratroops"."* - Webster describing Liebgott

Technician Fifth Grade **Joseph D. Liebgott, Jr.** was a paratrooper and a translator that serves in Easy Company. His fellow soldiers assumed that he was Jewish, based on his surname, but he was raised Roman Catholic. He spoke an Austrian dialect of German, which was confused with Yiddish.

## Biography

### Early Life

Liebgott was born in 1915 in Lansing, Michigan, the oldest of six children. His parents, Joseph Sr. and Mary, were immigrants from Austria. Joseph Sr. was Catholic, and raised the children as Roman Catholic and attended in Catholic school. He grew up in Oakland, California. He finished 2 years of high school and worked a variety of jobs, mostly helping his father in their barbershop. He listed his occupation as "cook" in his enlistment records.

### World War II

He enlisted in the Army on September 9, 1942, in San Francisco, and subsequently volunteered for the Airborne, finding his way to Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment at Camp Toccoa, Georgia. According to the miniseries, Herbert Sobel the overly strict first lieutenant approached Liebgott during one inspection, Sobel told him he had a rusty bayonet, which he bonked on Liebgott's helmet and yelled loudly that he would not take a rusty bayonet to war.

As they prepared to jump for the invasion of Normandy, Liebgott and Forrest Guth gave haircuts to the men of the 101st for 15 cents per head. Many of the men either had their heads shaved or got Mohawks.

Liebgott participated in the Brécourt Manor Assault, manning a machine gun with Cleveland O. Petty. For this action Robert Sink awarded both men the Bronze Star. On D-Day+4 Liebgott showed Roderick Strohl a ring that he had cut off the finger of a dead German, whom he had killed with his bayonet. He also got a Nazi swastika, which he showed to Sgt. Talbert, who in turn showed Liebgott his poncho. During their attack on Carentan, he and Edward Tipper were clearing the house, Liebgott shot a German trying to get out of the building. Later on, Liebgott found Tipper who was injured when a mortar shell hit near him. Liebgott was the first one to reach him and attended to him. Liebgott comforted him and then dragged Tipper with the help of Harry Welsh to a nearby aid station.

He received minor wounds on 5 October 1944, at about 0330, when Easy was on line on "The Island", in the Netherlands, on the south side of the Rhine. While on patrol, the group that he was with encountered a German patrol, and an incoming grenade wounded him (in the arm) and Roderick Strohl slightly, while James Alley and Joseph Lesniewski were wounded more severely. Alley had thirty-two wounds in his left side, face, neck, and arm, while Lesniewski got hit in the neck by shrapnel. Later, after Easy Company commanding officer Richard Winters led the charge up on the dike, the German artillery opened up on The Crossroads and, in return, American artillery returned fire. One of the American shells exploded near Liebgott, wounding his elbow.

He was noted by Winters as being an extremely good combat soldier and loyal friend; however, Liebgott had a rather rough attitude towards prisoners. After the battle at the crossroads on "The Island" in October 1944, Winters handed over 11 German prisoners to Liebgott to be taken back to Battalion command post. Liebgott was ordered to drop all his ammunition but one round, so as to ensure that the German prisoners made it back.

After fighting in Normandy and the Netherlands, Liebgott was nearing a breaking point at Bastogne, during the Battle of the Bulge. Winters pulled him off the line and made him his Command Post (CP) runner. After a few days, Liebgott returned to the line to be with his buddies, but his feelings of stress and tension also returned. This time, Winters assigned him to 101st Division Headquarters S-2 (intelligence), due to his ability to speak German and interrogate the prisoners. This move Winters would regret because Winters thought that Liebgott was Jewish and his hatred for the Germans came through when he questioned the prisoners.

At Noville, while patrolling with Sergeant Earl Hale, the two men went into a barn and captured six German SS officers. When a shell exploded outside the barn, one of the SS officers pulled a knife from his boot and slit Hale's throat, although not fatally. Liebgott shot the officer, killing him. (Later General George Patton berated Hale for not wearing a necktie, until Hale produced a letter from the doctor who treated him that exempted him from wearing one.)

While on occupation duty in Austria, Easy Company commander Ronald Speirs assigned Liebgott, along with John C. Lynch, Don Moone, and Wayne Sisk, to "eliminate" a Nazi who had been the head of a labor camp. When they found the man, Liebgott interrogated him for about thirty minutes, confirming that he was the man they wanted. They drove him to a ravine and Liebgott shot him twice. Wounded, the Nazi ran up a hill and Lynch ordered Moone to shoot him. Moone refused, and Sisk killed the man with a single, fatal rifle shot.

### Later Life

After the series aired, his children made contact with Bill Guarnere and the rest of Easy Company, attending a reunion in Phoenix in 2002. There they revealed that their father had raised them Catholic. Moreover, they reported that, unlike the memory of their father given in the book and series, Liebgott had never hacked a cab in San Francisco, and did not go back there after the war.

Instead they said their father had gone missing after the war, and remained missing for three years, never even telling his parents where he went or that he had even come back. His family believes that he suffered, like many veterans, from PTSD (post-traumatic stress syndrome), and decided to "bum it" for a while, dropping out of society.

He turned up in California's Great Valley, got married, and raised a large family. He worked as a barber until his death. He never told his 8 children about being in the war. They only found out after the book and series made him known. Digging through his things in the attic, they discovered the 506th regimental scrapbook, and his jump wings.

Liebgott died on 28 June 1992 in San Bernardino, California.

## Trivia

* In the miniseries, Liebgott is portrayed as a Jew as he stated in Currahee and had a fight with Guarnere when he called Winters a quaker.
	+ ﻿While Liebgott is said to be Jewish in both the book and the miniseries, there has been much confusion over this point now that his family has been found and contacted. They were raised Catholic, were told their father had been, and his dogtags were stamped Catholic (though apparently many Jewish soldiers had their religion falsified on their dog tags). However, all the men he served with are certain he was Jewish. There has been some speculation about whether he converted, though Liebgott's children say both of his parents were Catholic as well. The question remains as to why he seemingly told everyone he served with he was Jewish when family fact seems to show that he was not, though a fan's investigation into his ancestry reveals that his mother's maiden name was Zimmerman, which is often a Jewish name. It may be that his mother was born Jewish but that Liebgott was raised Catholic.
* No one seems to be entirely sure of what went on for him post-war, as he disappeared until 1948. His parents apparently did not even know that he had returned safely from the war, as they apparently wrote in a letter to a fellow soldier who had written asking after him in 1946 or 1947. It was assumed that he suffered from PTSD.
* He named one son after himself, while all the other children had first names beginning with J.
	+ He has one granddaughter serving in the U.S. Navy.
* In the German version of the miniseries, his translation is changed. As it would not make sense to have an interpreter stand by when everyone speaks German, he makes side remarks on the information given by the freed prisoners.
* In a later scene, he is incorrectly portrayed as he observes a dismissal speech of a German commander to his troops in the German version. Instead of translating the speech, he is issuing comments about his opponents that in the context do not reflect his views as portrayed in the original language version.

## References

1. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0007590/bio
2. ↑ http://militarypower.wikidot.com/joseph-liebgott<nowiki>
3. ↑ http://militarypower.wikidot.com/joseph-liebgott
4. ↑ http://militarypower.wikidot.com/joseph-liebgott<nowiki>
5. ↑ http://militarypower.wikidot.com/joseph-liebgott&amp;lt;nowiki&amp;gt;
6. ↑ http://militarypower.wikidot.com/joseph-liebgott<nowiki>