Summary
- Captain Sobel's portrayal in Band of Brothers as a cruel and petty drill instructor is accurate, but it may not capture all the nuances of his real-life counterpart.
- While the men of Easy Company heavily disliked Captain Sobel for his harsh treatment, many credit him with preparing them for the war and attribute their survival to his training.
- In real life, Captain Sobel became an accountant after the war, raised a family, and eventually became estranged from them. His actions at Currahee were defended by some soldiers who were trained by him.
David Schwimmer's character, Captain Sobel, is infamous among the men of Easy Company in HBO's Band of Brothers for his strictness and seemingly malicious nature towards the men under his command, but was his real-life counterpart as bad as the television show portrayed him? Much of the focus on Captain Herbert Sobel takes place in Band of Brothers episode 1, "Currahee," due to his role as the company's drill instructor, as he was not a combatant. The Band of Brothers Sobel portrayal is that of a cruel and sometimes petty man who revoked weekend passes to the men under his command for infractions such as having dirty sights on their rifles.
Since Band of Brothers is based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Stephen E. Ambrose, David Schwimmer's performance as Captain Sobel is based on the recollections of the surviving members of Easy Company. Questions surrounding the work's historical accuracy arise as with any film or television adaptation of a real story. Since Schwimmer's performance as Captain Sobel is overwhelmingly negative, it would initially seem that his portrayal of the character in Band of Brothers is somewhat inaccurate.
Captain Sobel's Early Life
While the audience gets to know the cast of characters in Band of Brothers more as the series goes on, Captain Sobel has a short role in the show and thus his life outside of Easy Company and his past is not really known. Herbert Sobel was born on January 26, 1912, in Chicago, Illinois. Sobel was born into a Jewish family which is referenced in Band of Brothers when one of the soldiers makes a dismissive comment about Sobel based on his religion, thus angering another Jewish soldier in Easy Company.
Though the recollection from other members of Easy Company was that Sobel wasn't particularly athletic and struggled with the run-up Currahee Mountain along with the rest of the men, he was on the swim team when he attended high school. It seems that a military future was always a plan of his from an early age as he attended Culver Military Academy in Indiana. He later went on to study business at the University of Illinois.
Captain Sobel's Military Career
Before becoming Captain Sobel, he was first commissioned as an officer in the United States Army Reserve following his time in university. Sobel rose through the ranks quickly and was made a lieutenant in 1937. In 1941, Sobel was assigned to Camp Grant in Rockford, Illinois just ahead of the United States joining World War II. Sobel became the first member of Easy Company in 1942 as well as its commanding officer. During the training of Easy Company under his command at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, during which he was promoted to captain.
Though his training was harsh but effective during the initial basic training, Sobel proved himself to be lacking in field command skills when Easy Company was transferred to Camp Mackall, North Carolina. Sobel was said to have difficulty reading a map and would become easily flustered in the field. When the company was moved to England, Sobel's tension with the company grew worse as he attempted to court-martial Easy Company's future leader Lieutenant Richard Winters in a power move.
A number of non-commissioned officers within East Company wrote letters to command resigning their posts if Sobel led them into the war, reasoning that he was a liability who would get Easy Company soldiers killed. While the officers were reprimanded, Sobel was replaced as commander of Easy Company by Lieutenant Thomas Meehan. Sobel was reassigned to the command of an airborne school in England. He landed in Normandy and led an attack on a German machine gun, destroying it. Sobel spent the remainder of the war as a staff officer in the 506th Service Company.
Band Of Brothers' Real Sobel Was Disliked In Real Life
Just as Band of Brothers Sobel portrayal shows in "Currahee," Captain Sobel was notorious among the men he trained for his pettiness and harsh treatment of those inferior in rank to himself. The scene where Sobel orders the members of Easy Company to run up and down Currahee Mountain immediately after eating spaghetti in the mess hall is taken from real life. Many men did throw up but were forced to keep running by Sobel, as depicted in Band of Brothers. Due to this, and many other examples of harsh treatment, most members of Easy Company heavily disliked Captain Sobel.
However, there was a silver lining to Captain Sobel's harsh treatment of Easy Company during training. Many members of Easy Company credit their survival of the Second World War with the preparation that Sobel had provided them, intentionally or otherwise. Major Richard Winters, played by Damian Lewis in Band of Brothers, even stated that "one of the reasons that Easy Company excelled was undoubtedly Captain Sobel." While Band of Brothers' depiction of Sobel as cruel but effective as a training officer is accurate, the show's nature as a miniseries meant that it had to leave many of Captain Sobel's real-life nuances out.
How The Real Sobel Was Different Compared To Band Of Brothers
The usually detailed Band of Brothers miniseries does not touch on Sobel's private life, instead utilizing his character as an antagonist for the men of Easy Company to unite against. In real life, after the war, Sobel became an accountant and raised a family. He continued to serve in the Army Reserve but eventually, became estranged from his family.
Sobel died at 75 in 1987 in a Veterans Affairs nursing home in Illinois. No funeral was held. However, his youngest son Michael defended his father's actions at Currahee in the book We Who Are Alive and Remain. Many of the soldiers trained by Sobel, as depicted in Band of Brothers, have also posthumously defended Sobel, including the oft-subject of Sobel's ire and mockery, Donald Malarkey. Captain Sobel's cruel treatment of Easy Company may be accurately depicted in Band of Brothers, but the miniseries could not include the nuance of the man David Schwimmer's character was based on.