WWII Alumni “Teacher of the Day” at Anaheim High

Robert Fischle – Class of 1941

When AHS alumni history teacher Alex Lamb from Class of 1967 learned there was an Anaheim graduate who served in WWII living just blocks from the school,  he immediately contacted the AHSAA to arrange a speaking date for his students who were studying the Battle of the Bulge.

Robert Fischle from AUHS Class of 1941 accepted the invitation to share his memories of fighting in the 40-day battle in the freezing cold. Gathered before two classes of AHS history students, the 92-year-old veteran and life-long Anaheim resident told students that  the best part of the war was making it home alive and the worst part was the weather, recalling the horror of driving over frozen corpses as a gunner in an Army M-15 Half-Track, a large truck-type vehicle with front wheels and rear tracks.

The Half Track was equipped with two 50-caliber machine guns firing 500 rounds per minute and a 37-milimeter canon that fired 120 rounds per minute. Fischle job was to sit in the truck’s “bucket” and operate the machine guns. In his Small Town Kid to Big Time War memoir, Fischle recounts how his elite 390th Special Battalion Unit of 675 soldiers crossed the European continent for 281 days of combat in the Third Army commanded by General George Patton.

On July 7, 1944, the 390th Battalion landed on Utah Beach with the mission to protect the Third Army’s supply dumps. As they began their advance across Europe, the main objective was to shut down enemy aircraft to prevent destruction of bridges. Keeping these structures intact was of vital importance to the success of U.S. Army operations.

“We advanced day and night, over mountains, through dense forests, across broad rivers, pressing ever onward in pursuit of victory,” Robert wrote in his memoir. His biggest worry, he told the history students, was dodging strafe coming from low-flying enemy aircraft that would appear suddenly from the clouds. Fischel recalled several near misses when the bullets whizzed around him but never made contact.

His unit’s ultimate destination was Belgium’s densely forested Ardennes region on the edge of the Western Front. As the students are learning, it was the largest and bloodiest battle Americans fought in World War II, leaving 90,000 Americans wounded and 19,000 dead. The 390^th made history during the Battle of the Bulge, shooting down 13 German planes in 17 minutes. The unit received commendations from U.S. Army Generals Patton, Eisenhower, Marshall, Bradley and more.

The Class of ’41 vet also talked about his days growing up in Anaheim. With a father who owned a confectionary shop in downtown Anaheim, Fischle was literally the kid who grew up in a candy store. His family home was located at 326 S. Melrose St., and he attended Broadway Elementary School, Fremont Junior High, then Anaheim, entering as a freshman in 1936 just as the new school buildings opened after being reconstructed after the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. He played football, basketball and track all four years.

Fischle’s extracurricular activities leaned toward fast cars. In school he was called Bob or his nickname “Fish” and his best buddy was Bob Spielman. The duo rode in a Willy’s roadster any time they could scrounge up some gas money. When their tank was full of 10.9-cents- a-gallon-gas, the duo headed for Huntington Beach and other favorite spots.

He left Anaheim as a 19 boy and returned home four years older, a battle-scarred man. “It took me a while to get my feelings back,” he answered when asked how he dealt with coming home with memories of the death and destruction he witnessed during the war. “When I sit on my patio and see big white clouds, I always remember the enemy aircraft coming at us. It was kill or be killed.”