Herbert Sobel was the original commanding officer of Easy company, of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. He was portrayed by David Schwimmer in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. Though considered to be a decent officer by some, to others, especially the non-commissioned officers in his company, he was viewed as incompetent, due to the fact that he was unable to read a map. During a training exercise in England, he had gotten several members of his company so lost, that none of them had any idea where they were. Several of the Easy Company survivors state that they might not have survived the war had it not been for Sobels tough training regimen at Camp Toccoa. He was later given command of a jump school at Chilton Foliat, where he taught non-combat troops, and near the end of the war, was placed in charge of supply for the 506th P.I.R., placing him back in the unit he had started, but in a different position. He returned to the states after the war, and worked as an accountant before being recalled during Korea, however, his disposition during the war in Korea is unknown, there are no records that exist of him either being in Korea, or the U.S. during that period, he would later become a member of the Illinois National Guard, and retire with the rank of Lt. Colonel. He returned to his job as an accountant for a Chicago appliance company, and married, although he later divorced, he did, however, father two sons. Sobels son, Michael stated that he attempted suicide, shooting himself in the head with a small caliber pistol. The bullet entered through the left temple, passing directly behind his eyes, exiting the right temple and severing the optic nerve, permanently blinding him. Later, he moved into a VA assisted-living facility in Waukegan, Illinois, where he lived for the next 17 years. There, he died from malnutrition, there was no funeral service for him after his death. After the airing of the miniseries Band of Brothers portrayed him as a petty tyrant, his son, Michael attended the 2002 Easy Company reunion, and spoke of his father as a caring man, with a lot of good reviews from the audience. Sobel is one of the most misunderstood figures from the Band of Brothers and World War II. A biography about Sobel by a fair historian would be very informative and timely. Any takers? findagrave/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=19055620
Posted on: Sat, 28 Dec 2013 16:43:24 +0000
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