#hoob

June 28, 1922 - January 3, 1944 (KIA)

This hurt a lot more to make than expected.

Corporal Donald ‘Hoob’ Hoobler

Passionate, youthful charm, great shot.

Not much is shown about Donald Hoobler. In fact, not much is known about Hoobler. Except that damn Luger did him in. 

Let’s start off with real Hoobler

Donald Hoobler was born in the small town of Manchester, Ohio on June 28, 1922. Hoober’s father Ralph and mother Kathryn had three children: Mary, Hoob, and Hoob’s little brother George. His father died in 1930. George died in 1932. After the war, Mary was the only one left with his mother. Kathryn Hoobler died in 1976 and Mary died in 2014. 

Hoob was originally enlisted in the Ohio National Guard before the war started out. He was scheduled to train in 1941 but after his father passed away, he went home to take care of his family. Hoob could’ve stayed home, but he chose to enlist and volunteered for the Paratroopers in 1942. He was known as Hoob. He and another boy in Easy had been childhood friends since Ohio, but the two (like Malarkey and Skip) were very different from each other.

Hoob was known as happy-go-lucky. He loved war in every sense of the war. He called the explosions beautiful, at least he called it that to Webster. He was in his element when fighting. He would call out that he “got one!” when they were in combat and firing. He was said to be “one of the only men who were happy to be in the war”. He volunteered for every boring job and every patrol. 

Hoobler knew how to make people laugh. He caused dog piles on other men for fun and took “picnics”. Even though sometimes his jokes were not always enjoyed. One time, he was playing around with another paratrooper. He mimicked a shell’s whistle and the man panicked and dove into his foxhole. Hoobler found this hilarious until an actual shell burst nearby. 

Hoobler was described as “young, raucous (loud), cocky, and disputatious (loved causing arguments)”. He was also said to be “sturdily built”. No one bothered to look out for him much since he tended to be okay on his own. He, along with Skip Muck, were one of the more popular people in Easy. 

His popularity did not stop in Easy. Hoobler had a nice time in Holland. He was friendly to most of the people there and they all loved him. The locals and civilians called him “Count Von Hoobler”. He even gave a Dutchman cigarettes while Webster gave his son chocolate. 

Hoobler was the rank of Corporal during the time after D-Day. He was awarded a Bronze Star for his actions during the war. He was kind to everyone and liked to take the work off the men in his platoon. During Christmas of 1944, Hoob suggested that the officers take patrol for that night. This was his way for the men to have a “Christmas present”. Hoobler was forgiving and easy on everyone. Webster hadruined his gun trying to shoot a jackrabbit in Holland and Hoobler forgave him. 

Hoobler, like most men, had an obsession with the German Luger. This was common among the men and most of them dreamed of having one as a souvenir.

In Hoobler’s last days, he managed to get his hands on a Luger. He had picked it up on the battlefield. A German horseback rider came through Bastogne snow’s forest and ran into Easy Company. Hoobler fired off three shots and struck the man. A few other shots were fired at the man but Hoob was excited over his victory. He jumped and down in the air, yelling “I got him! I got him!”

The German was taken captive. (He was not killed and the Luger did not come from him.) In fact, it is debated whether Hoob got a Luger at all. 

How Hoob died is still a debate. It was an accidental misfire of his gun that killed him. Some say his gun’s trigger got pulled down when crossing over barbed wire and it fired in his pocket. 

The other is more likely and the most well agreed on. Hoobler was so excited after shooting the German down that he wouldn’t stop moving around. He talked to anyone he could. But he was fiddling around with his gun, whether it was a Luger or not, when he put it in his right hand pocket and it went off. 

His main artery in his right thigh was severed by the bullet. Hoobler fell to the ground and cried out in pain for help. He was carried away to an aid station but he died shortly after arriving due to blood loss (not on the field by Doc Roe’s side. His medic was Private Holland). The day was January 3, 1945 in Belgium.

Hoobler was buried in Manchester Ohio with his father, sister, and brother.