HBO’s Band of Brothers famously told the mostly true stories of Easy Company’s 101st Airborne, but what ever happened to David Schwimmer’s character of Cpt. Herbert Sobel in real life? The war drama series, which would eventually become immortalized as one of the most well-executed TV projects focused on American military involvement during World War II, first hit the air in 2001. With an impressive cast, including Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg at the creative helm as executive producers, the show chronicles some events from the real-life service of subsequently well-known Army veterans like Dick Winters, David Webster, Ronald Speirs, and Herbert Sobel.
Portrayed by actor David Schwimmer, Sobel is a character intended for viewers to loathe. He’s more than just a tough commanding officer for the men of Band of Brothers‘ Easy Company, as the series depicts him as being unnecessarily harsh while training his recruits in many ways – even by military wartime standards. He also famously butts heads with Damian Lewis’ Dick Winters, eventually leading to a fan-favorite scene where the aforementioned character rightfully insists that Sobel salutes him in passing after he’s been promoted (via the memorable line, “You salute the rank, not the man.”).
In real life, Sobel was an Illinois native who volunteered as an Army paratrooper in 1941, not long before entering his thirties. A former college graduate with a degree in architecture, he began ascending through the military branch’s ranks fairly quickly. As Band of Brothers‘ story depicts, he became an unpopular training commander at Camp Toccoa in Georgia. Though many people who’ve looked back on what’s said about Sobel, including some of the men who were under his command, believe he was truly trying to sufficiently prepare Easy Company for the horrifying, trying reality of war, there’s a consensus that some of his behavior was rather petty and unnecessarily harsh. Even so, he served in the war until 1945, when he returned to the US and eventually received an honorable discharge.
Though Sobel is said to have been a clothing salesman prior to his college days, before he majored in architecture during his higher education, he seems to have switched career fields post-World War II. The veteran became an accountant and eventually married his wife, with whom he had three children. In addition, Sobel’s military service didn’t end in the ’40s. He rejoined Army active duty for the Korean War in the following decade. Sobel was a member of the Army National Guard for years, even retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel before he and his wife started their family.
Unfortunately, what’s publicly known about the rest of the Band of Brothers‘ character’s life is quite tragic. He and his wife eventually divorced, and Sobel is said to have become estranged from his family. He also attempted to take his own life in the late ’60s or early ’70s. Though he survived, this event left him blind in both eyes for the rest of his days. Because of this, he lived in an Illinois assisted living facility until his death – which was supposedly caused by malnutrition and neglect – in 1987. The Band of Brothers veteran was 75 years old at the time of his passing.
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