Herbert Sobel

The strict trainer who forged Easy Company at Camp Toccoa but was replaced before D-Day due to field inadequacies.

Herbert Maxwell Sobel (January 26, 1912 – September 30, 1987) was an American soldier and the initial commanding officer of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. A Jewish man from Chicago who graduated from the University of Illinois with a business degree, Sobel is best known for his tenure as a strict training commander at Camp Toccoa, Georgia. While he successfully forged a highly disciplined unit, his inability to lead by example in the field and his reliance on fear created deep resentment among his men. Replaced prior to D-Day due to concerns over his combat judgment, Sobel later served in Normandy with the 506th's service company before retiring as a lieutenant colonel.

Quick Facts

Birth name: Herbert Maxwell Sobel
Born: 26 January 1912
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died: 30 September 1987
Place of death: Waukegan, Illinois, U.S.
Allegiance: United States
Branch: Organized Reserve
Rank: Lieutenant colonel

Lore & Background

Sobel commanded Easy Company during its formative basic training at Camp Toccoa, where he was promoted to captain. He became known as a tough, strict, and divisive leader whom the men viewed as a "petty, arbitrary, domineering tyrant." Enlisted soldiers frequently referred to him behind his back as a "fucking Jew," while officers nicknamed him "the Black Swan." Lieutenant Richard Winters, his executive officer, criticized Sobel's "desire to lead by fear rather than example."

Despite this animosity, Sobel proved effective in training an excellent company of highly disciplined paratroopers. However, by February 1943 at Camp Mackall, North Carolina, his shortcomings as a field commander became apparent; Winters recalled thinking, "I am going into combat with this man. He'll get us all killed." Sergeant Amos "Buck" Taylor later noted that while Sobel was a good training officer who wanted the best for his men, his judgment in battle could not be trusted.

Reader's Guide

Herbert Sobel's career illustrates the critical distinction between training effectiveness and combat leadership. Initially commissioned in the Organized Reserve and promoted to first lieutenant by 1937, he was ordered to active duty at Camp Grant in July 1941 before joining Easy Company in 1942. His strict methods built a cohesive unit, yet his lack of spatial awareness and smart decision-making made him untrustworthy for battle. After being relieved of command by Colonel Sink, Sobel continued serving as a staff officer, eventually becoming the regiment's S-4 (logistics officer) on March 8, 1945.

Post-war, he worked as a credit manager in Chicago and married Rose, a Catholic nurse, with whom he raised three sons before their divorce. In 1970, Sobel attempted suicide by shooting himself in the head, severing his optic nerves and rendering him blind. He died of malnutrition on September 30, 1987, at a Veterans Administration facility in Waukegan, Illinois.

Did You Know?

Sobel was one of four children, with two brothers and a sister, and all were Jewish, though his wife Rose was Catholic, a fact disapproved of by his family.
Despite being replaced before D-Day due to field inadequacy, Sobel arrived in Normandy by glider or sea with the service company, not by parachute, and did not destroy a German machine gun nest immediately after landing.
In 1970, a suicide attempt left Sobel blind after a bullet severed his optic nerves; he died of malnutrition seventeen years later at a VA facility.
Sobel trained over 400 men for non-combat jumps by June 1944 before rejoining the division near Carentan on D-Day.