 After his co-workers fabricated a story that he was about to unionize the work force, Fiala was fired from the plant.Art Fiala served in World War I as member of the 20th Engineering Battalion, and was stationed in France (March - June 1918).While stationed in the French Alps, the soldiers of Fiala's battalion had little more than their uniforms and blankets to keep them warm - a shipment of warm clothes had caught fire and burnt during the transfer across the Atlantic Ocean.