Private First Class (Pfc) Roy D. Hobbs
Service Number: 38012336
Branch: United States Army
Unit: 200th Coast Artillery Regiment (Anti-Aircraft), New Mexico National Guard
Pfc Roy D. Hobbs, a native of Lovington, New Mexico, entered active service in the United States Army on March 26, 1941. He was a proud member of the 200th Coast Artillery Regiment (CA Regt), part of the New Mexico National Guard, which was federalized in January 1941 for training as war tensions grew overseas.
After months of training, the 200th CA Regiment was deployed from San Francisco to Manila, Philippines, on September 26, 1941, as part of the American buildup under General Douglas MacArthur’s United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE). Upon arrival, the regiment was assigned to the Far East Air Force (FEAF) and began intensive anti-aircraft defense training at Fort Stotsenburg in Pampanga Province on the island of Luzon.
On December 8, 1941 (Manila time), just hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese forces began bombing American military installations across the Philippines. Fort Stotsenburg and nearby Clark Airfield were among the first to be attacked. Despite being under-equipped and using outdated munitions, the 200th Coast Artillery Regiment heroically engaged the enemy, credited with downing multiple Japanese aircraft in the early days of the war.
Following months of intense fighting and dwindling supplies, the 200th CA Regiment was captured in the spring of 1942 during the Fall of Bataan. Pfc Hobbs, along with many of his fellow New Mexican Guardsmen, endured unimaginable conditions as a Prisoner of War under Japanese captivity.
Tragically, Pfc Hobbs is believed to have perished aboard one of the infamous “Hell Ships”—the Oryoku Maru, Enoura Maru, or Brazil Maru—after the ship was bombed and sunk by U.S. aircraft near Subic Bay, Philippines, on December 15, 1944. His remains were never recovered.
Today, Private First Class Roy D. Hobbs is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines, alongside thousands of other Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice in the Pacific Theater.
We honor Pfc Roy D. Hobbs for his bravery, his service to his country, and his enduring legacy as one of New Mexico’s beloved Bataan heroes. His courage and sacrifice will never be forgotten.
