America at War card set includes plenty of history, notable ink

It's been about a decade since America at War Band of Brothers Series 1 arrived from Valor Studios with a cardboard look back at World War II, but its energy and history is just as rich today.

It's an all-in-one release -- a pair of sets totaling 192 cards -- along with four promo cards in a box.

There is a chase element, though, as one in six boxes includes an autograph or sketch card -- and that's where there are some inclusions that could have resonance beyond just fans of U.S. military history.

Seven veterans signed cards for this one and two others have cards that were ready to be signed but were not. No. SP1 in the set is Lt. Col. Lynn "Buck" Compton who was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by Neal McDonough. That 2001 series was based on a book of the same name that brought to the screen the story of the "Screaming Eagles," the E Company, Second Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. A few other signers in this set were represented in the TV series and the lineup includes William "Wild Bill" Guarnere, Edward "Babe" Heffron, Clancy Lyall, Donald Malarkey, Earl McClung and Amos "Buck" Taylor. Unsigned cards were made for Forrest Guth and Ed Tipper.

They all have unique stories as part of their service and beyond. Compton, for example, was a UCLA baseball and football star -- he received both Bruins Baseball and UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame honors -- and was a teammate of Jackie Robinson. He was a two-way player for the first UCLA team to play in the Rose Bowl Game. Instead of pursuing a baseball career after his military service, Compton went to law school, became a police officer and then a prosecutor and judge. He was the lead prosecutor in Sirhan Sirhan's trial for the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in 1969. The following year, he was picked by California Governor Ronald Reagan to be an Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal where he served for 20 years until he retired in 1990. He died at age 90 in 2012.

You can see all of their autographs in the gallery below. They carry a similar look to the base cards, which feature hand-tinted photographs, graphics and maps. These America at War Band of Brothers Series 1 boxes are in pack form but should build both sets (or come close). They include 143 cards for the D-Day set and 49 more for the Band of Brothers. There are four promo cards included and there were just 108 sketch cards from artist Ingrid Hardy made for random insertion in the release along with ink. Valor intended to follow up on this series with more historic releases but this one stands alone.

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