Airman First Class Hobday was the tail gunner of a B-29A Superfortress Bomber with the 371st Bomber Squadron, 307th Bomber Wing based at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa. On 13 September 1952, while making a bomb run on the Suiho Hydroelectric Plant, his aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire. He was listed as Missing in Action and was presumed dead on 28 February 1954.

Hobday was awarded the Air Medal, the Purple Heart, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.