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The 36th Division Archive
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Captain Willard H. Fisher
S-3 Tactical Operations Officer
2nd Battalion, 376th Infantry Regiment, 94th Infantry Division
Born in Delmar, Maryland, Willard H. Fisher was an extremely bright man. Growing up in a decently well-off home, he graduated high school only to be admitted into John Hopkins University to get an undergraduate degree in Social Studies and Mathematics. Not one to stop, however, his successful college career ended with a master's degree in retail from New York University from which he returned home and became upper management at a local retail chain. As the threat of war grew Fisher decided that his place was on the battlefield, not the market floor, and enlisted in the US Army. Serving as an enlisted man for about a few months, following the entrance of the United States into the war Fisher's education (and fluency in French) earned him a commission in1942, joining the 376th Infantry Regiment of the 94th division. At first a platoon leader, he proved his mettle and became the S-3 Tactical Officer for his entire battalion.
In September of 1944 Fisher and the division arrived in France to join Patton's 3rd Army as it advanced across the European continent and into Germany. Known as “Patton's Pawns,” Fisher and the 94th Infantry Division found themselves fighting in some of the fiercest battles around the Bulge and spearheading the drive into Germany. As the battalion S-3 Fisher oversaw strategic planning and the carrying out of field operations. For creating and performing numerous successful assaults throughout the conflict he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. During the division assault across the Saar River on 24 February 1945, he was leading battalion troops close to the front when a German artillery shell landed near him, spattering him with shrapnel, and severely wounding him. After two months of recovery, he technically returned to the battalion but was not placed in field duty. He spent the first few months of occupation with the 94th but in July of 1945 transferred to command in the 49th Armored Infantry Battalion of the 8th Armored Division. He went on to serve during his occupation with the 8th Armored Division in Germany.
Fisher finally came home in 1946 and left the service, getting a long-term job as an upper-level administrator for a local school district before settling into a math teaching position at a local high school later in life.