Roy Cobb

Private Roy W. Cobb (18 June 1914 - January 1990) was a soldier who served with the 1st Armored Division years before enlisting in the paratroopers with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division of the during World War II. During his military service, his rank never advanced beyond . Cobb was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by Craig Heaney.
Military service
Cobb had served in the army for nine years prior to enlisting in the Parachute Infantry. During that time, he took part in an assault landing in Africa with the 1st Armored Division. After recovering in England, Cobb rejoined his unit after they were relieved from combat operations in France; he took part in Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands, and fought at Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge. In January/February 1945, he was selected for a patrol at Haguenau under Lt. Jack Foley.
When the patrol commenced, Cobb's raft capsized, sending him and his cohorts into the icy water of the Moder River. They were then ordered to remain behind by an officer. The patrol returned with two prisoners, while one severely wounded German was left on the riverbank. David Kenyon Webster feared the wounded German, if recovered, would give away the outpost's position and threaten their safety; therefore he offered to silence the wounded soldier. Webster and another paratrooper each threw 2 grenades, none of which killed the German. Cobb later made one attempt with a grenade of his own, killing the wounded soldier.
Within hours of the incident, Cobb was arrested and nearly executed on-the-spot for assaulting his platoon commander, Lt. Foley in Haguenau, after consuming a bottle of schnapps. While submitting the court-martial papers, Robert Sink told Foley, "...you could have saved us all a lot of trouble. You should have shot him." The actual incident was not portrayed in the series, yet several other events depicting him as bitter were shown throughout the series but never mentioned in the book.
According to Clancy Lyall, Cobb was given to him to care of as he knew Cobb best. "Roy was an okay guy. He was a good soldier when he wasn't drinking, but if there was a bottle in the middle of the German HQ, he would go out and get it! That was his problem. As a combat guy, he was quite good, no question about that", Lyall stated in his biography Silver Eagle. He also said Cobb never moaned about not being promoted and he doesn't know where they got the idea from that, that he was frustrated because of it.
Medals and decorations
*106px  Combat Infantryman Badge
*60px  Parachutist Badge
*60px  Purple Heart
*60px  Presidential Unit Citation
* American Defense Service Medal
*60px  European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
*60px  World War II Victory Medal

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