Remember and Honor – Memorial Day 2023
The Loss of Platoon Sergeant Robert Fischer & Hugh Evans’ Courageous Reaction
VAIL, Colo. – May 29, 2023 -- On Memorial Day, and every day, the Colorado Snowsports Museum remembers and honors all U.S. military personnel who have died while serving the United States. In honoring the fallen, we wanted to remember Robert “Bob” R. Fischer (Rank: T/SGT, Company C, 85th Mountain Infantry), who died while fighting against the Germans in World War II, as well as 10th Mountain Division veterans Hugh Evans (Rank: T/SGT, Company C, 85th Mountain Infantry) and Malcolm "Mac" N. Mackenzie (Rank: PFC, Company C, 85th Mountain Infantry).
Hugh drying his socks.
Through an oral history persevered at the Colorado Snowsports Museum, Hugh Evans tells of the horrors of war – and the witnessing of the death of Bob Fischer. Evans was so enraged by the loss of his friend and platoon sergeant that he acted, in his words foolishly, but to many others, he acted with great courage and strength.
At the end of 1944, the Allies’ 16-month war struggle had left Italy in shambles, and the Germans were prepared with artillery batteries around the country. By mid-January of 1945, the 14,000 men of the 10th Mountain Division had quietly moved into small villages surrounding ridges in the northern Apennines area and began planning possible routes up Riva Ridge. This ridge held the German observatory post and was therefore crucial to defeating the rest of the Germans in the area and breaking their Gothic line.
As soldiers fought their way up the mountain: artillery and mortar fire intensified. Near the top of Mount Gorgolesco, Hugh Evans said machine gun fire took down his platoon sergeant, Bob Fischer. Hugh placed an air-tight bandage over the wounds on his chest – by cutting the back out of Mac Mackenzie’s parka. Despite best efforts, in Hugh’s arms and with Mac Mackenzie by his side, the sergeant died. When he died in his arms, Hugh remembers Bob saying: “Please not now. Please not now,” as Hugh told Denver Post reporter Bruce Finley (March 27, 2013). Enraged, Hugh charged to the top of Mount Gorgolesco. He successfully, and single-handedly destroyed two German machine gun nests.
In Hugh Evans’ own words, below he reflects on the horrors of that day:
As I told you I don't know that I'm one of the heroes. I'm one of the fools that got angry enough to take some action that earned me the Silver Star on Gorgolesco when we captured Mount Belvedere. Looking back in retrospect, you realize anger is not the best thing. A soldier needs a certain amount of that, but he needs common sense and good training. War is a terrible thing. Unfortunately to date in man's history, it's been an essential part of civilization. We don't associate war with civilization, but I think unfortunately that is part of the process. A war is a very ugly thing and it's something that we certainly want to stop and we thought we'd fought the war to end all wars. Didn't work that way.
…Well, it's funny. You don't really talk about these things although they flash back from time to time, but in that you've asked the circumstance as I remember it, and it's always fuzzy, it's that we had had this night attack on Mt. Belvedere in Gorgolesco and we'd had a friend killed, Bob Fischer, who was actually the platoon sergeant. I was the assistant platoon sergeant. Been riddled through the chest with a machine gun. Man was with him when I came upon him, obviously had sucking wounds in his chest -- I took the bayonet and cut a piece out of the jacket the man had to try and make a seal so that he could continue to breathe. It didn't work and Bob died there. Many years later, I learned the man with me who I couldn't remember was Mac Mackenzie who was in C company 85 as well.
Well, it was dawn and our objective had not been reached as yet, but the heavy machine guns had been set up to our right and I went up to them to spot where they were firing their machine guns because you really couldn't tell where the enemy was. And then I went back to my squad which was just below an enfilade area on top of Gorgolesco and said that's our objective and we had rifle grenades. I fired two rifle grenades. I saw a man crawling. B company had been in front of us and took terrible casualties there. I saw a man crawling in front of what I saw was the objective and I thought, 'Well, if he's crawling there, I should be able to run toward that,' so I got up and ran and said, 'Follow me,' and ran up to where this man was lying below what was the dirt from a German bunker. And I asked where they were. He didn't talk, but just said on the other side. I threw a grenade, just rolled it over the top. When it exploded, I jumped in that trench. One German was dead, two put their hands up when I jumped in. I had a grease gun which is a sort of a machine pistol and I yelled at the man that 'There are two in here,' and he came in and I went on over the top of the hill and saw a man stick his head up and I evidently killed him with one shot, very lucky.
They started to drop mortar shells in on the position where I was so I ran down the hell and there was a slit trench there with the man I'd shot and there were two machine gunners firing in a different direction. I captured both of them and sent them back and then some Germans started to run down this valley in front of me and I turned the German machine gun on them. Then the troops came through following and the thing that absolutely floored me afterwards is that the whole other side of the hill was just riddled with fox holes with Germans in them.
Why I survived that I have absolutely no idea, but it was a rash action that went quickly enough that people didn't react to and you survive it. I'm sure that happened many times in many different ways. Some people did it and didn't get a Silver Star and other people; it was noticed and they did.
Hugh looked up to Bob as a brother. The two trained together at Camp Hale. Hugh was wounded in action near Castel d'Aiano in April 1945 and received a Purple Heart. He was awarded the Silver Star for his service at Mount Gorgolesco in February 1945.
Fire on the Mountain film poster from the 1990s. Courtesy of the Colorado Snowsports Museum poster collection.
While many tout Hugh Evans’ war record, he is also one of the pioneers of Colorado skiing, inducted into the Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame in 2016. By helping to develop and direct the 10th Mountain Division Hut and Trail system and administer programs and funding through the 10th Mountain Foundation, he and others have opened the backcountry to all ages and abilities. Hugh is the living spirit of tradition, remembering the old while embracing the new and passing on the spirit and love of the mountains.
At the age of 18, Mac Mackenzie volunteered for the service in the 10th Mountain Division, training in Colorado prior to combat in the Apennine Mountains in Northern Italy. He was wounded in battle on April 14, 1945, and was the recipient of the Purple Heart and Bronze Star Medal.
Mac was a life member of the Disabled American Veterans; Veterans of Foreign Wars Keene Post 799; Gordon Bissell American Legion Keene Post #4; the Jerusalem Lodge 104; the New England Ski Museum; and was inducted into the “Hall of Fame” in the Vermont Ski Museum. In 1948, he was appointed Director of the first ski School at Mount Sunapee by the manager, David Heald, a position he held until 1950. In 1970, Mackenzie became active in the New England Chapter of the National Association of the 10th Mountain Division serving as President for two years and then elected National President, a position he held for eight years.
If not for the ultimate sacrifice made by Bob Fischer, and so many other soldiers, Hugh and Mac might not have been able to come back to the U.S. and improve the lives of so many through organizations and recreation. Their sacrifice gives many of us the ultimate feeling we all seek on-mountain and while enjoying snow sports: Freedom.
A dozen oral histories were donated to the Colorado Snowsports Museum by George and Beth Gage in 2018, including those of Hugh and Mac. The Gages directed Fire on the Mountain – the 1996 documentary that tells the powerful story of America's mountain and winter warfare fighting unit, the 10th Mountain Division. This oral history was documented in the making of this film. Fire on the Mountain shares many firsthand accounts, told by the veterans themselves through interviews.
Curator’s Note: In doing research for this piece, we had a hard time finding additional information about the life of Robert “Bob” R. Fischer. If anyone has information, they’d like to share with us, we’d be honored to add it to our archive to better preserve this important history.
Remembering & Honoring on Memorial Day Weekend:
Presentation at the CSM -- Saturday, May 27th at 4pm
Marine Corps Colonel Tom Duhs (retired) will honor the 10th Mountain Division by presenting his fascinating story of the Ski Troops who trained at Camp Hale near Leadville from 1942-1944. This free - Memorial Day Weekend - event is on Saturday, May 27th at 4 pm - at the Colorado Snowsports Museum in Vail. Tom Duhs is a former U.S. Marine Corps officer who served at the Mountain Warfare Training Center in California from 1981-1984. The Marine Corps version of Camp Hale, the center featured the same sort of training that the men of the 10th Mountain Division received in Colorado: skiing and rock climbing.
Memorial Day – Monday, May 29th, 11 am to 5 pm
The Colorado Snowsports Museum in Vail, Colorado will be open all day from 11 am to 5 pm. Stop by and pay tribute to the 10th Mountain Division by visiting our exhibit in their honor, “Climb to Glory.” At the end of this exhibit, be sure to stop by the “The 10th’s Lasting Legacy” display. Here, you can see the 10th Mountain Division Roll of Honor – killed-in-action list. Help us remember and honor these individuals.
If you can’t make it on Monday – the Museum is open daily from 11 am to 5 pm.
10th Mountain Memorial Day Ceremony – Monday, May 29th at Tennessee Pass, Colorado
The 10th Mountain Division Foundation’s 65th annual ceremony at Tennessee Pass, CO, will return to the glory of previous years as we gather to honor the fallen. The public is invited to attend. Coffee and donuts will be served starting at 10 am. Bleacher seating will be provided.
Location: At the summit of Tennessee Pass on US Highway 24, between Leadville and Minturn, Colorado, at the 10th Mountain Division Monument.
Event schedule:
11 a.m. – ceremony begins.
12:30 p.m. or after the ceremony concludes – optional lunch at Ski Cooper in Leadville
About the Colorado Snowsports Museum and Hall of Fame:
Founded in 1975 and located in Vail, Colorado, our mission is to celebrate Colorado snow sports by telling stories that educate and inspire others to seek adventure. The priceless artifacts we collect and display tell the story of the birth, rise and explosion of skiing and snowboarding in Colorado. The Museum features displays including Climb to Glory about the 10th Mountain Division, Vail’s DNA, The Colorado Snowboard Archive, and The Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame, among many others. Learn more and consider supporting the Museum by becoming a member: www.snowsportsmuseum.org.
Media Contact:
Jen Mason | Dana Mathios
jen@snowsportsmuseum.org | dana@snowsportsmuseum.org
(970) 476-1876