Hoobler, Donald Brenton “Hoob”, born 28-06-1922, in Manchester, Adams County, Ohio, USA. to Sergeant Ralph Brenton Hoobler ( 1892–1930)
and his wife Kathryn Phyllis, born Carrigan,
Hoobler (1893–1976). Hoob had one sister and two brothers, Mary K. Hoobler, Lane (1921–2014)
and George B Hoobler ( 1925–1932).
and John R. Hoobler. Hoob was born and raised in the area of Manchester, Ohio. In 1930, when Hoobler was eight, his father, a WWI Sergeant veteran, passed away. Two years later, Hoobler’s younger sibling, George, also passed away.
Donald Hoobler was in the Ohio National Guard when they were activated at the beginning of the war, Hoob arrived at Camp Shelby
for Training in 1941, but was sent home, as his father had passed, and he, in turn, became head of household, he easily could’ve stayed at home, and took care of his family, but, he decided otherwise, and went to the recruiter’s office in Portsmouth, Ohio, and enlisted in the Army, he signed up for the paratroopers, and found himself with the 506th Parachute Infantry,
under command of Robert Frederick “Bounding Bob” Sink
of the 101st Airborne,
“Easy” Company at Camp Toccoa, where Hoob soon found himself fighting on D-Day in Normandy, jumping into Holland as part of the ill-fated Operation: Market-Garden, and finally, to the Battle of the Bulge, where he was shot in the leg by his own weapon, which had gone off when it got snagged on some barbed wire, he died with the company medic, Eugene Roe at his side.
Operation Market Garden was an Allied military operation during the Second World War fought in the German-occupied Netherlands from 17 to 25 September 1944. Its objective was to create a 64 mi (103 km) salient into German territory with a bridgehead over the Nederrijn (Lower Rhine River), creating an Allied invasion route into northern Germany. This was to be achieved by two sub-operations: seizing nine bridges with combined US and British airborne forces (“Market”) followed by British land forces swiftly following over the bridges (“Garden”).
Known as happy-go-lucky, according to fellow paratrooper PFC David Kenyon Webster,
he was “one of the only men who were happy to be in the war,” going as far as to volunteer for every tedious job and patrol. PFC Webster drowned at sea during shark-fishing, on 09-09-1961 (aged 39).
Death and burial ground of Hoobler, Donald Brenton “Hoob”.
During the Battle of the Bulge,
Hoobler’s unit dug a defensive position in the Bois Jacques near Bastogne, Belgium.
On 03-01-1945, Hoobler’s weapon snagged on barbed wire, causing it to misfire into his leg. Because of the amount of clothing Hoobler was wearing, and despite company medic TEC4 Eugene G. Roe Sr.’s
best efforts, Hoobler died of his injuries. He received his third Purple Heart posthumously.
Hoob was portrayed by Peter McCabe
in the HBO/BBC miniseries “Band of Brothers.”
Corporal Donald Brenton Hoobler is buried at Manchester IOOF Cemetery with his father, mother and his brother, George, in the same cemetry.



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