Lewis Nixon (United States Army officer)

Lewis Nixon III (September 30, 1918 – January 11, 1995) was a commissioned officer with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division during World War II. 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). 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 in boat class. 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 for two years.

He enlisted in the army on January 14, 1941 in Trenton, New Jersey. On December 20, 1941, he married Katharine Page of Phoenix, Arizona.

Military service
After graduating from Army Officer Candidate School in 1941 as a second lieutenant, Nixon made the decision to join the paratroopers. He was assigned to Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Nixon went through the regimental unit training and pre-airborne training at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, and Airborne School at Fort Benning, Georgia, eventually training at many locations throughout the United States and England for the invasion of France.

Nixon was appointed as the 2nd Battalion intelligence officer (S-2), and showed enough skill at his job to be moved up to the regimental level as 506th Infantry S-2, 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. However, in the Netherlands he was hit by a stray bullet from a German MG-42 machine gun. The bullet went through Nixon's helmet, but only grazed his forehead and left a small burn mark. His most notable contribution to the war effort occurred shortly after the Brécourt Manor Assault, when (then) Lt. Richard Winters handed Nixon a map showing 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 Utah Beach and passed the information up the chain of command. Command was so thrilled with the information provided by Nixon and Winters that it sent the first two tanks to reach Utah Beach to support the paratroopers. He developed a drinking problem, and was eventually removed and assigned back down to the 2nd Battalion as the operations officer (S-3), 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 occupied territories.

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 General Maxwell Taylor as an observer with the 17th Airborne Division on Operation Varsity. Nixon's plane took a direct hit after he and three others got out. He is also one of a very few men in the 101st to earn three Combat Jump Stars on his Jump Wings.

He ended the war 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.

He is known and remembered for his love of the blended whisky Vat 69. This is commemorated several times in the book and miniseries Band of Brothers by Stephen 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. Stanhope had his share of vices as well. Wartime friend Richard Winters was offered a job by Nixon and eventually became a personnel manager at the firm. After World War II, the plastics industry evolved from nitrate-based products to acetate-based products, and the company failed to make the transition. In 1951, as the company downsized, it gave 48 acre of land, and a dam, to New Brunswick.

Nixon had two failed marriages before marrying his last wife, Grace, in 1956. He got his life back together and overcame his alcoholism during their marriage.

Lewis Nixon 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.