Wobler, Zachary Ryan

Zachary Ryan Wobler

Ottawa, Ohio

Feather Location: Row F, #14

By Jennifer Freehan / Toledo Blade

…A 1998 graduate of Ottawa-Glandorf High School, Sergeant Wobler was remembered by fellow members of his platoon as a dedicated warrior who fought hard and played hard.

"I have witnessed Sergeant Wobler correct men who outranked him," said Sergeant Omar Logue, who served with him in Mosul. "People respected him because they knew he was true to his core values. And it wasn't the U.S. Army that instilled those values in him. It was his family.''  Sergeant Logue said Sergeant Wobler credited his father, Anthony Wobler, for teaching him to strive to be his best and to be a leader.  Sergeant Logue said surely his mother, Jeanette Poston, taught him his social skills. Sergeant Wobler, he said, could talk to anyone, and soldiers in their platoon often went to him to talk about personal problems.

Staff Sergeant Mike Beal recalled a time when he was having trouble in his marriage, and Sergeant Wobler forced him to focus on the dangerous work at hand.  "Zach said, 'Mike, snap out of it. Your men need you. I need you. Worry about your marriage later. Get 'em out alive.'?" Sergeant Beal said, fighting back tears. "He was right."  Sergeant Beal said his friend "set the standard" for a soldier and a human being. He said he did not know how to best pay tribute to his life.  "I couldn't find the words to describe how I never heard Zach complain about anything or about how he was always there for his friends or about how the only thing he loved more than his family and friends was serving his country," Sergeant Beal said…

Carver:  Wood Bee Carver with the initial of JH

Wood:  Basswood carved and painted