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When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, John Fisher was a 14-year-old boy living in the borough of Saxton. Four years later he found himself on a ship just off the coast of Japan, loading torpedoes onto submarines and sending them off to fight the empire.
Born in Saxton in 1927, Fisher grew up in the grips of the Great Depression. Although his father worked sporadically for the Huntingdon and Broad Top Railroad, medical issues forced him into early retirement, which made for some lean times for the family.
"My father was disabled, and this was before the days of Social Security disability," Fisher said. "A couple of years before he died, he did start getting a check, about $50 a month."
Despite the Depression, Fisher remembers Saxton as a "busy" town with shops, restaurants and a couple of bars when he was growing up.
"It was a coal-mining town, very busy," he said. "If you went into town on a Friday or Saturday night, you could hardly walk the street because they would be so crowded with miners spending their mine money."
While the town was full, the Depression took its toll on Fisher and his family who struggled at times but didn't go hungry.
"Family would pitch in to make sure we didn't go hungry," he said. "There were some rough times, but we made it through."
Although Fisher didn't have much himself, he went out of his way to help those with even less.
Because of the railroad, Saxton was a frequent stop for hobos and tramps who would set up camp along the Huntingdon branch of the Little Juniata River just outside of town.
"At different times I would take the horse and a couple dozen eggs over to the campground and give it to those guys," he said.
Fisher said that although times were hard, he has mostly good memories of growing up in Saxton. The one thing he didn't like was school and saw military service as a way out.
"I hated school so much, so I went into Altoona and tried to join the war, but I was only 16 and they told me to come back in a year," he said.
Still, at the age of 16, he quit school and went to work until he could join the Navy.
"On my 16th birthday, I quit school," he said. "I was a sophomore and I went in late one morning and the teacher sent me to the principal's office. If I walked out of the classroom and if I went straight, I went to the principal's office, if I went right, I went out the door. I went right."
After leaving school, Fisher moved to Akron, Ohio, and worked on a farm until he could join the Navy.
Fisher returned home when he turned 17, and on March 3, 1944, he joined the United States Navy, getting assigned to the submarine tender the USS Fulton, and headed to the Pacific Theater.
As a 17-year-old boy heading out to sea, Fisher said he had his moments of apprehension, but was excited for the adventure ahead.
"Sure, there were things to make you a little apprehensive," he said. "Getting on the ship for the first time, going under the Golden Gate Bridge, just things that were new to me."
Making his decision to join easier was the support Fisher received at home.
"Everyone back then was working for the war effort," he said. "My mom and dad were fine with me joining."
While the Fulton never saw combat, it played an important role in the fight against Japan. The Fulton is where submarines would tether up to and get reloaded with torpedoes.
"We were kept about 20 miles back from the battle because they didn't want us to get hit with all those torpedoes and ammunition on board," Fisher said. "We were a supply and repair ship. We were following the battles around but far enough back not to get hit.
Loading torpedoes onto the submarines was a tricky job, and there was always a chance something could go wrong.
"Our ship was carrying a lot of explosives. It could be scary at times," he said.
Fisher said the Japanese were aware of the Fulton's presence, but they were never directly attacked.
"A couple of times they (the Japanese) would fly their planes over the island," he said. "If we went from one island to another there would be destroyers escorting us so we didn't get hit. If one torpedo would hit us the whole ship would go up."
The Fulton was about 600 miles off the coast of Japan when the United States dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima. Fisher has mixed emotions about the decision to use the bomb but doesn't question it.
"I know it was devastating, but it had to be done," he said. "When they bombed Pearl Harbor, all bets were off. For my part, I felt sorry for the Japanese population because of the decisions of their leaders."
After he was discharged from the Navy in 1946, Fisher moved in with his sister in Martinsburg and decided to give high school another try.
"I realized I needed my diploma to get a decent job, so I enrolled in Morrison Cove High School."
It was at Bean Hill that Fisher met and fell in love with classmate Ada Mae Bassler.
"She was the prettiest girl in school and I fell for her right away," he said.
Fisher graduated from high school in 1947 and on May 16, 1948, he married Ada Mae at the home of the Rev. A. Emmert Frederick. Following a honeymoon to Gettysburg, Philadelphia and Atlantic City, the newlyweds settled into a trailer on the property of Ada Mae's parents.
Shortly after, Fisher got a job with the railroad in Altoona, retiring after 36 years of service. In the interim, Ada Mae gave birth to three children – two sons, Joseph Scott and John Steven, and a daughter Nancy.
With the memories of his parents struggles, Fisher began investing in real estate, buying properties and converting them into rentals.
"I had a few rental properties and I would sometimes by properties to fix up and sell" he said. "It worked out pretty well."
On Sept. 30, 1991, Fisher returned to the Fulton when it was decommissioned and put out of service.
"Being back on that ship brought back a lot of memories," Fisher said. "So many of the guys who were on the ship are no longer with us."
Ada Mae passed away in 1997. To help cope with the sudden loss of his wife, Fisher decided to board a train in Altoona and ride the rails across the country, a journey that lasted over two years with intermittent stops home.
"I needed something to do, and I needed to keep my mind occupied," he said. "I always wanted to see the country and there is no better way than by train."
In the early 1990s, Fisher took up flying Ultra-light planes, but a devastating crash that nearly killed him brought his hobby to a sudden halt.
"The landing gear in my plane got tangled up," he said. "I was only given a 12 percent chance of surviving the surgery but here I am."
As a proud member of the "greatest generation," Fisher, who now lives in Altoona, is aware that there are few remaining from World War II, and said reminiscing about those days brings back a lot of great memories.
"My memory may not be what it used to be, but I can still remember those days pretty well," he said.
At 92, Fisher said when looking back on his life he has very few regrets.
"I've had a pretty good life so far," he said. "I married my soulmate and raised a nice family. There is not much I would do differently."
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