Here is how she described her childhood. in a letter sent in 1996:

“I had good training for those years though as born an “Army Brat” at Fort Sill, OK. The term “Army Brat” does not fall into the dictionary meaning of a “a nasty child”. Far from it. Used with warmth, it’s special meaning is a child born into an Army family. Army brats the world over, many of whom knew each other while growing up in various Army Posts, and they are constantly running into each other all their lives. They are, in themselves, a kind of “family” – each member of which knows what it means to have lived their youth in an Army family constantly on the move and in a disciplined Army environment.

“When I was 18 months Dad (a Field Artillery Captain and WW I veteran) was ordered to the Philippines where we lived for 3 years. Unfortunately, I was too young to remember any of it or the trip through China and Japan on the way back to the States but loved to listen to my parents talk about the “old Army”.

As the only child of older parents I was brought up to “toe the mark”. Dad never had any patience with me if I cried – always told me that thoroughbreds don’t cry and we Comptons are thoroughbreds. Also, anyone can smile and be happy when all is right with the world, but it takes a real thoroughbred to smile when life gets tough. I adored my father so always wanted to be a thoroughbred in his eyes. Mother came from a “prominent” family in a small Kansas town and she was insistent that I learn the social graces, look people in the eye, give a firm handshake and always say “Sir” and “Maam”. 

We spent 2 years at Fort Leavenworth, KS while Dad went to the Command and General Staff College, Fort Bragg, N.C. for Field Artillery command – then to Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD for test work. Dad was sent to the National War College in Washington D.C. for one year then was on General Staff duty in the old “War Dept.” for 2 years when World War II broke out. Now a full Colonel he left for various duty stations in the States but Mother opted to stay in the house we rented in Chevy Chase D.C. rather than disrupt my schooling. He was gone for 4 years with only brief visits home; he was sent overseas to Europe with the 15th Army.

Needless to say Mother was never very patient with my whining about my husband being gone for 14 months in the Korean War or the Vietnam War. I ended up living 11 years in the D. C. area, which was and always has been home to me. Dad returned home for my high school graduation in ’46 and was ordered to Ft. Leavenworth. I insisted that I had never heard of the place and would be “culturally deprived” so they left me at Chevy Chase Junior College for 2 years.

The summer I graduated from Chevy Chase, Dad had an opportunity to go to Fort Bragg to take command of the Army Field Forces Board which tested field equipment for the Army. Mother was all set to move into a huge house at Fort Leavenworth, Dad only had two and a half more years before he would turn 60 and have to retire so they decided to leave the decision up to me. I knew that Dad wanted this command but would defer to his women. I asked him what was at Fort Bragg and he replied with a twinkle in his eye “The 82nd Airborne Division”. Having just had dinner the night before with a bald headed Lt. Colonel (I was 19 yrs old) I instantly voted to move. Believe me at Leavenworth the men were like that old song “either too young or too old”. As a side note, there were many conferences at Leavenworth and I would be invited to fill out the tables etc and I first met then Lt. Colonel Harry W.O. Kinnard at one of those parties – he was a great dancer.

As the saying goes the rest is history. At Bragg we had a great group of paratrooper Lts. just returned from 3 years in occupied Japan and five eligible officers’ daughters. I went to the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) under duress as I was not a student, did not know one soul on campus, and was having too much fun at Bragg. Of course, as you know Randy those southern schools are so very friendly within two weeks I told my folks I wouldn’t be home until Thanksgiving. Mother used to entertain the Lts. with coffee and cake on Saturday morning as they would drop by just to visit with her. After dating so many different ones, I was so exhausted from the morning tennis, afternoon swimming and evening dates (remember this was just after WW II and the army had “downsized” again) that I decided to spend 4 days doing nothing. The only problem was that everyone came to the house, so mother said I had to go out again as it cost her a fortune in liquor.

I decided in the summer of ’49 that Hal Moore was the man for me and chased him until he caught me. We were married in November, and our first child was born 18 months later at Fort Bragg.”

While Julie does not mention it in her letter, she was terrified when the family received notification that her father’s troop ship, the Empire Javelin, was sunk in the English Channel. COL Compton was awarded the Bronze Star for his quick actions that saved more than a thousand lives. She would experience that same fear as an Army wife watching her husband deploy to Korea and Vietnam as well as her son to combat in Panama and the Gulf.