Roy and Berry Lee Hobbs United States Army

I've spent some time trying to piece together the facts of Roy Hobbs. I'm afraid it's going to take longer than the five days remaining, but I will continue to pursue it. This man certainly deserves to be recognized.

The information I have gathered so far is this: Roy Hobbs was in the United States Army Band. He was also on the Bataan Death March and was a POW in the Philippines for three years. He and other American POW's were on a Japanese ship that the U.S.bombed. The Hobbs family learned of Roy's death, I think, about a month later.

Of course, all prisoners and enemies were buried at sea. Bombs and oceans are great equalizers.

It saddens me to know that I've had many opportunities for this very personal story from Roy's brother, Berry Lee Hobbs, who passed in July 2005. I've sat in Berry Lee's back office, at his kitchen table, held the (yellow?) POW "report cards" of Roy Hobbs' in my hands, witnessed the pain of the brother, still etched in the sibling's face, fifty, then sixty years later.

Berry Lee served in the United States Army as well. A clerk, he never left the states. I've wondered since, did this bother Berry Lee? I bet it was a relief to their mother.

But I've had the chance for this story and put it off until it was too late. Oh, I'll still get the story, but not from my friend.

Rest In Peace, Roy and Berry Lee Hobbs. Thank you for your service. Your sacrifice. Your family. And Berry Lee, your friendship.

Click here for Bataan Memorial Death March info at White Sands Missile Range.