Band of Brothers 101st 506th E Co. Herbert Sobel sign FDC

Description: After university, Sobel was commissioned as an officer in the Organized Reserve. By 1937, he had been promoted to first lieutenant,[6]and by July 1941, he had been ordered to active duty and assigned to Camp Grant near Rockford, Illinois.[7]In 1942, Sobel was assigned to Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment as its initial member and commanding officer.[8] Sobel commanded Easy Company during basic training at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, during which he was promoted to captain.[9] Sobel was intensely disliked by the men under his command,[10]who saw him as a petty, arbitrary, domineering tyrant who handed down cruel punishments for the most minuscule of infractions, real or imagined. "Until I landed in France in the very early hours of D-Day," recalled Corporal Walter Gordon, "my war was with [Sobel]."[11]Lieutenant Richard Winters, Sobel's executive officer, took exception to Sobel's "desire to lead by fear rather than example."[12] The officers in Easy Company nicknamed Sobel "the Black Swan,"[13] and the enlisted men frequently referred to him as a "fucking Jew" when he was out of earshot.[11]Despite his harsh tactics, Sobel proved effective in training an excellent company of highly disciplined paratroopers. However, by the time Easy Company had transferred to Camp Mackall, North Carolina, in February 1943, Sobel's shortcomings as a field commander became apparent. During exercises, his lack of spatial awareness, physicality, and smart decision making made his men concerned about his ability to lead them in battle.[14] "I am going into combat with this man. He'll get us all killed," Winters recalled thinking.[15] In 2009, Sergeant Amos "Buck" Taylor said:Some of the men downright hated him even to the point where Sobel's life was in danger. As NCOs, we had all heard comments from other enlisted men such as, "Boy, if I ever get Sobel in my sights he's a goner"—stuff like that...there was a strong feeling among the men that Sobel couldn't be trusted in a combat situation...here's my conclusion: Captain Sobel was a good training officer, strict, he wanted his men to be the best. I admire him for that. But you could not trust his judgment in a battle situation.[16]The situation escalated while the regiment was stationed in Aldbourne, Wiltshire, England in October 1943. Sobel initiated court-martialproceedings against Winters over Winters' failure to carry out conflicting latrine inspection orders Sobel had given him.[17] This caused the sentiment against Sobel to finally boil over: "Sobel had authority over the men [but] Lieutenant Winters had their respect. They were bound to clash," Stephen E. Ambrosewrote in Band of Brothers.[18] This conflict prompted all but three of the non-commissioned officers in Easy Company to attempt to resign their ranks in protest.[19] As a result, Colonel Robert Sink, the regimental commander, set aside Winters' court-martial, and after furiously berating his NCOs for the attempted mutiny, replaced Sobel with Lieutenant Thomas Meehan as commander of Easy Company.[20]Sink subsequently assigned Sobel to command an airborne school in Chilton Foliat, Wiltshire, which would provide jump training for non-combat personnel in preparation for the invasion of France. By June 1944, Sobel and his staff had trained more than 400 men through the five practice jumps necessary to qualify as parachutists.[21] On D-Day, Sobel parachuted into Normandy with the rest of the 101st Airborne Division as commander of the 506th's service company.[22] Immediately after landing, Sobel assembled four men and destroyed a German machine gun nest with grenades before joining the rest of the division near Carentan.[23]Sobel spent the remainder of the war as a staff officer in the 506th, and was appointed the regiment's S-4 (logistics officer) on March 8, 1945.[11] Sobel remained in the Army Reserve after the war, eventually retiring at the rank of lieutenant colonel. After his service in World War II, Sobel returned to Chicago, where he worked as a credit manager for a telephone equipment company.[24] He married Rose, a former military nurse from South Dakota whose Catholicism was disapproved of by Sobel's Jewish family.[26] They raised three sons, who attended church weekly with Rose before their parents' divorce.[26][27]In 1970, Sobel shot himself in the head with a small-caliber pistol in an attempted suicide.[28]The bullet entered his left temple, severing his optic nerves and rendering him blind.[28] Soon afterward, he began living at a Veterans Administration assisted-living facility in Waukegan, Illinois, where he died on September 30, 1987;[2] the death certificate listed malnutrition as the cause of death.[28]No memorial service was held. Never too early to think about Christmas gifts. Let me know what you are looking for? I have many other Band of Brothers signed items not listed. Please inquire for names you need or are looking for. Please bid with confidence. I am a 40 year collector of mostly military autographs. I have been on eBay for 25 years. I have a large selection of military/sports autographs in many categories. Check back weekly for new auctions. I WILL COMBINE SHIPPING. PLEASE ASK ME TO SEND AN INVOICE FOR MULTIPLE PURCHASES BEFORE PAYING. I do take want list and I find many rare military autographs. TRY ME!! Please see my other items and come back weekly for new items listed. I do buy quality items and trade. Please contact me with anything you are selling or if you have trade items. Thanks for bidding and good luck!

Price: 2995 USD

Location: Cheyenne, Wyoming

End Time: 2024-11-03T19:00:11.000Z

Shipping Cost: 6.25 USD