Oral history interview with Harry Fischer [sound recording], 2006.

ArchivalResource

Fischer, Harry, 1926-. Oral history interview with Harry Fischer [sound recording], 2006.

Oral history interview with Harry Fischer [sound recording], 2006.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/228658129

Harry Fischer, a Wauwatosa Wis. native, discusses his World War II service in the U.S. Army. Fischer relates volunteering for the draft immediately following his eighteenth birthday and reporting to Fort Sheridan (Illinois) in Oct. 1944. Fischer did his basic training at Camp Hood (Texas) and was transferred to Fort Ord (California) to await overseas deployment. Fischer discusses traveling to the Philippines aboard the U.S.S. General John J. Pope and having a torpedo nearly hit the ship in crossing. Later, Fischer tells that a radio station was falsely broadcasting that the John J. Pope had sunk. He discusses joining the 43rd Infantry Division as a replacement for the 169th Infantry Regiment, and that one night the soldier he was sharing a fox hole with was killed by friendly fire while on watch duty. Fischer also talks of another close encounter when a Japanese sniper was outside of his foxhole. While in Cabanatuan (Philippines), Fisher describes being hospitalized for several weeks with yellow jaundice and that the war ended while he was hospitalized. Upon his release from the hospital, Fischer tells that he traveled to Japan to find the rest of his division that had been transferred to Japan while he was hospitalized. However, when he discovered the division had been disbanded, Fischer was reassigned to the 97th Infantry Division on primary guard duty. Fischer relates climbing Mt. Fuji, attending radio school, and being transferred to a job with military government as a clerk in the legal section where he assisted in the process of prosecuting war criminals. He describes his work as a disc jockey for the Armed Forces Radio Station in Niagata (Japan) and the relationship between the troops and the Japanese people. Fischer says one of his proudest achievements was receiving the Combat Infantryman's Badge. Fischer details his acquisition of Samurai swords; the historical and financial value of them and their meaning to the Japanese people. He compares in detail the difference between the people of Japan and those of the Philippines.

Sound recording ; 1 sound cassette (ca. 38 min.) ; analog, 1 7/8 ips.Transcript : 19 p.Master sound recording ; 1 sound cassette (ca. 38 min.) ; analog, 1 7/8 ips.

Wisconsin Veterans Museum Research Center