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The M-2 Flankers produced some remarkable
leaders, and among them was DANIEL JAMES TOBIN. When the horse-drawn
caisson bearing
his body wound its way through the rain
at Arlington Cemetery, 200 of his family,
classmates, and M-2 “irregulars” gathered to
bid farewell. After the ceremony, Dan’s wife
Judy hosted an old-fashioned Irish wake, and
typically humorous Dan Tobin stories filled
the evening.
Dan began life in Buffalo, NY, the second
son of Mary and Daniel Tobin. Growing up
in a blue-collar, mixed-ethnic neighborhood,
he enjoyed a carefree childhood. He and his
friends always arrived home for meal time,
but, in the interim, arranged their own baseball
games, scuffled, and went swimming in the
nearby Niagara River, where once Dan almost
drowned. Fortunately, at All Saints Grammar
School and Canisius High School, he had been
dealt a heavy dose of Jesuit-disciplined education,
so other academic demands later in life
paled in comparison. He worked hard enough
to earn good grades, but he also entertained his
classmates with his antics.
What all of us remember about Dan’s
West Point years is how incredibly easy Beast
Barracks and cadet life seemed for him. His
brother Richard ’49 had briefed him well on
what to expect, and he enjoyed the challenge.
While the rest of us sweated, Dan found
humor in everything. He entertained all of
us with practical jokes, funny stories about
his uncle’s escapades in Buffalo, or his own
daily adventures.
Following graduation, and after the basic
course and Airborne training, he headed for
Bad Nauheim, Germany, and the 3rd Armor
Division. There he endured the continuous
field duty, before-dawn reveilles, and 18-hour
days familiar to all of us. A hands-on troop
leader, he excelled in every soldierly skill he
expected of his men.
During that tour, Dan traveled to England
to act as best man for a Canisius classmate and
close friend. Judy Miller, the Air Force commanding
general’s daughter, was tasked with
showing Dan around and keeping him out
of trouble. For entertainment, she took Dan
to Wales for a picnic. They drove there in a
Volkswagen Beetle with Dan’s knees up to his
chin. After a long distance courtship of only
three dates between Germany and England,
Judy and Dan were married in 1956.
In 1959, Dan attended the career course at
Ft. Benning, GA, and was subsequently posted
to the Infantry School as an instructor in the
Officers Candidate Program. By early 1962,
the war in Viet Nam had intensified, and Dan
volunteered to serve as an ARVN advisor in
Quang Tri, where most of the infiltration and
resulting insurgency existed.
Returning from Viet Nam in 1963, Dan
attended Command and General Staff College
at Ft. Leavenworth, KS. From there, he earned
his graduate degree in Industrial Management
at Purdue University and then had a three-year
tour at West Point in the Department of Military
Psychology and Leadership.
In 1968, Dan and his family headed for Heidelberg
(“Heidelbigle” in Dan’s unique lexicon)
and a general staff assignment at USAREUR
headquarters in ODCSOPS. Shortly after the
Pueblo incident, Dan was queried by a Navy
commander from ODSLOG about why we
required so much 50-caliber machine gun ammunition
for our APCs. Dan responded with
his infectious and ubiquitous chuckle, “Why,
commander, when the Army is surrounded, it
likes to fire.” There were no further questions!
By 1969, Dan had made the battalion
command list and was sent to Berlin to command
the 2d Battalion, 6th Infantry. There
his success in meeting the spit-and-polish
demands and training requirements of a Berlin
guard battalion earned him his first Legion
of Merit.
After completing battalion command, Dan
returned to Viet Nam, this time serving as a
senior advisor to ARVN forces in Can Tho
and receiving his second Legion of Merit and
a Bronze Star.
After attending the Naval War College,
Dan was promoted to colonel and assigned
to MILPERCEN as the project officer for the
creation of the new Officer’s Efficiency Report.
His enormous effort resulted in the “bottom
to top” system the Army has comfortably
employed since. Dan later went on to create
a similar system for the Coast Guard and the
Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police.
In 1980, Dan retired. After experiencing
every kind of challenge and adventure the
Army had to offer, he had no interest in settling
into the long term mundane existence of
an O-6 staff officer. He entertained himself in
the later years working on projects for beltway
bandits and helping Judy with her very successful
real estate business. Dan’s unique memory
and sense of humor made him very popular
with his classmates and particularly beloved
by the M-2 irregulars. He was our company
historian, poet laureate, and goodwill ambassador.
From time to time, his companymates’
irreverence disturbed the sensibilities of some
of our classmates, and it was diplomatic Dan
who smoothed the waves. The first sentence of
every conversation with Dan was punctuated
by a chuckle. He saw a bit of humor in everything.
He loved his life, his family, and his M-2
buddies, and we all loved him.
Dan is survived by his wife Judy; their
three children, Danny, Kathy and Julie; and
his eight grandchildren. Among Dan’s accomplishments,
there was none more important to
him than being Granddad.
One of Dan’s close friends and a classmate
said it best: “When it comes to ‘Duty, Honor,
Country,’ or doing the right thing for our
troops, Dan never laughed. On those issues, he
was dead serious and stood as true to his oath
as anyone who ever wore the uniform of our
country. He saw through the false pride and
phony patriotism and was usually the first to
see it and expose it for what it was. This always
triggered a chuckle and grin, if not a burst of
laughter, for his observations were always right,
and if not for his mischievous whisper, the rest
of us might have missed the obvious.”
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