Posted by paul fisher
on 10/10/2006, 11:59 pm, in reply to "Martin Forman"
207.69.139.9
My father, Nathan Fisher, was in company D of the 71st. I spoke to Martin Forman, also in company D, for about 40 minutes on the telephone in 2000 or 2001. From attending 44th reunions I had been given the "tip" that the two were possibly buddies, going back to Ft. Lewis in February of 1943. All this proved to be true. Martin was one of the youngest in the 71st, having lied about his age to fight Hitler. My father was about 30, one of the older enlisted men and possibly a big brother figure to Martin. They visited liberated Paris together in September(?), 1944. Martin also mentioned that my father, a machine gunner, was visibly to his flank at the last flare-up of the Bulge, when the Germans tried to break through a last time on New Year's Day, 1945. It was, I believe, a 72 hour battle. Martin also mentioned that the two were both on the Queen Elizabeth, on which the 44th returned to the East Coast in July, 1944. Like many others on this site, I lost my father after the war as a young boy. I started to "search" for who he was by trying to meet someone who might have known him during WWII. Martin Forman was the one who told me that my father, his friend, was one of the most stand-up men he had ever known. Of course, they all were stand-up men and heroes. The 44th fought for 140 days of continuous combat and were still fighting in the Alps of Austria at Fern Pass in May of 1945! This is after the death of Hitler, April 30th, and just days before May 8th, the end of the War in Europe. I honestly regret that Martin has passed way and also regret that I did not go to visit him in person.
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