I was the classic city kid in a rural area. Iowa State College is literally in a corn field, and our ROTC there were the old French horse-drawn 75 millimeter artillery pieces. And there were six horse hitches to pull them, and so as ROTC students we had to take… Read More
So that’s kind of a fun story to think back at Ames that I can look back on. We were talking about your time during the war. The war is over, you leave, you set up your clinic when you get home. Read More
And every once in a while, I’d stop somewhere and start throwing my birds in the air, and the whole thing got silly fun. And then, of course, the war ended and by sheer coincidence, Patton ended up outside of Pilsen in Czechoslovakia, that was one of the deals, I… Read More
And it’s incredible, the accuracy. The Germans had their own permanent lofts during the war too, but we, of course, were mobile, we kept moving along. And we tried for fun and for serious thinking, maybe if we fed them in one loft and had the meat and the other… Read More
And I was convinced that if something happened to Willie, Patton would shoot me dead right on the spot. And so every time I was there, I was terribly concerned. Happily, Willie made it and I made it, and that’s why I’m here sharing these stories with you. But I… Read More
I didn’t even know how to reach into the creek to take the bird out without hurting its feathers, I thought, “Gee, I’m gonna create a problem here.” Anyway, I became an instant authority on birds diseases there of, and so forth. And there probably were about 6,000 birds in… Read More
Then one day the Colonel calls me in his office and he says, “Fisher, who you’ve been talking to?” And I said, “Nobody, sir, why?” He said, “Well, I’ve got your orders here “and you’re going overseas.” And he said, “I’ve looked over your 201 file,” that’s a personnel file… Read More
And so I started doing regular routine food work between the quartermaster Corps and the veterinary inspection work until one day, again, the Colonel calls me in and I was very blessed. I had a Colonel Sperry who was my chief in Europe. And it turned out that he was… Read More
And there were about, I think, 8 or 10 of us veterinarians all assigned there to Heinz, and we lived in the Webster Hotel, I recall that name somewhere in downtown Pittsburgh, I have no idea where exactly it would be. And there we were turning out just carloads of… Read More
And when we graduated, we were told we’d be called to active duty. And so I spent about six weeks, I think, between graduation and getting my orders to report. And the first part of my military service was hilarious, we were sent to Pennsylvania to a place where they… Read More
There was a packing house there that was making food for the troops, and I was doing what most of the veterinary people do, both in civilian life and in the military. And that’s looking after the safety of the food that feeds the people, the troops. And so I… Read More
Well, again, circumstances workout and they’re kind of fun. And looking back on it all during the war years, World War II years, a lot of people on campus were drafted. And I always thought it was just horrendous that a lot of kids that were just committed, and were… Read More
So thanks to Dr. Anderson, I got in. Well now, in 1943 you’re called to active duty in the Veterinary Corps of the United States Army. Read More
What work did you do as a veterinarian for the army?… Read More
He always had senior students riding with him that was part of their curriculum, and so I got to get exposed to veterinary medicine. And I’m sure in my mind, although nothing was ever said or proven, that it was only because of his interest in helping me that I… Read More
Well, it’s kind of a circuitous story. One of my very best friends in grade school and high school, Dick Reed, his dad worked for one of the packing houses, was either Swift and company or Wilson and Company, I don’t recall which of those two. And also I would… Read More
And fortunately for me it worked out. A lot of stuff in life, I guess, are circumstantial. And in my case, again, it was a happy circumstance. My sister helped me find a room in a big old wooden house on the edge of campus that a widower of a… Read More
So when did the idea of becoming a veterinarian happen?… Read More
Why did working with animals interest you?… Read More
Well, first of all, we always had a dog. So that I kind of, I guess, related to an animal. My dad had a Meat Market in the Bridgeport area of Chicago, and somehow I got into the animal bit, I guess. I just not being a farm kid, and… Read More