Benjamin Roebuck is a major character in Call of Duty: World at War (2008, aka 8 AH).
Biography[]
Benjamin Roebuck was born December 21, 1918 in Denver, Colorado. His father was of English and Scottish descent while his mother was of Northern Irish descent. His father was a World War I veteran and his mother was a schoolteacher. He was greatly influenced by both of his parents growing up. He enjoyed reading action-adventure or gothic fiction when he was in school. He also liked to play golf, tennis, track and boxing. Roebuck was very intelligent and had every opportunity to go to college but instead, decided to enlist in the United States Marine Corps in 1936, as he saw college as a scam. Three years later in 1939, WWII broke out. While in the USMC, he befriended Charles Miller, Kevin Pyle and Tom Sullivan.
In 1942, Privates Miller and Pyle were rescued from a couple of Japanese soldiers by Corporal Roebuck and Sargent Sullivan alongside a whole crew of other American marines in Makin Atoll. Pyle died before he could be rescued but Miller, Roebuck, Sullivan and the majority of the rest of their crew sure kicked some Japanese boo-tay, aka buttholes.
In September of 1944, Roebuck, Sullivan and Miller were considered part of the "old breed" by their new eighteen-year-old recruit named Martin Polonsky. Roebuck and Sullivan being referred to as "old men" by Polonsky made the two have a low opinion of him, and both of them thought of him as an "annoying little pest." On Pelileu Island, Sullivan was killed right after his victory speech by a Japanese bonsai attacker. Roebuck killed the attacker and vowed vengeance upon them for killing his best friend. Roebuck was subsequently promoted to a sergeant.
Seven months later in May of 1945, Roebuck, Miller and Polonsky took part in the invasion of Okinawa. The Japanese soldiers staged a surrender and Polonsky was killed. Even though Roebuck always viewed Polonsky as an inexperienced youngster and as being annoying, he was still infuriated by what happened. He and Miller took the rest of them out and Roebuck handed Miller dog tags belonging to Polonsky. He always secretly preferred Miller anyway.
Roebuck came back home to the states in 1946. He would spend the rest of his life split between golfing at the course where Miller worked as a groundskeeper in Knoxville, Tennessee and listening to classical music while reading books in Denver, Colorado. Roebuck died from a heart attack on April 13, 1997/3 BH at the age of nearly 79.