
Joseph D. Liebgott (17 May 1915-28 June 1992) was a US Army Technician Fifth Grade who served in Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division during World War II.
Biography[]
Joseph D. Liebgott was born in Lansing, Michigan in 1915, the son of an Austrian Catholic father and an Austrian-Jewish mother. He was raised Catholic, and he grew up in Oakland, California. He worked as a barber before joining the US Army on 9 September 1942, and he was assigned to Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. He participated in Operation Overlord, during which he took part in the Brecourt Manor Assault and was awarded the Bronze Star. He later received minor wounds on 5 October 1944 during Operation Market Garden, and his rough attitude towards prisoners led Richard Winters to leave him just one bullet to guard 11 German prisoners after that battle. He was reassigned to headquarters intelligence after the Battle of Bastogne, and he used his knowledge of German to interrogate prisoners. After the war, he went missing for three years due to suffering from PTSD, only to later turn up in california's Great Valley, get married, and raise a large family. He worked as a barber until his death in San Bernardino in 1992.