with no bed and no opening except a slot in the door through which a bowl of food could be pushed. After a thwarted escape attempt nine months into his captivity, he was routinely tortured and ultimately admitted to trumped up charges that he had been ordered to enter Manchuria and that he had participated in germ warfare. After a short mock trial in Beijing on May 24, 1955, Fischer and the other pilots Lt. Col. Edwin L. Heller, 1st Lt. Lyle W. Cameron and 1st Lt. Roland W. Parks — were found guilty of violating Chinese territory by flying across the border while on missions over North Korea. It led to his release in May 1955. Fischer was returned to active service two months later. He spent 784 days in captivity and was released on May 30, 1955, nearly 2 years after the Korean War ended. Post release After his release, Fischer received an Air Force Institute of Technology assignment to Iowa State College. He received his degree and then remained at the college, serving as an instructor in the Air Force ROTC program there from August 1957 to August 1960. Fischer next served as a Target Analyst at Offutt AFB, Nebraska, from August 1960 to November 1961, and then as an Intelligence Officer at Ramstein AB, West Germany, until August 1962. His next assignment was as a fighter pilot with the 389th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing at Chaumont AB, France, where he served from August 1962 to September 1963. He then received another AFIT assignment to Oklahoma State University, where he received his PhD in February 1966. Fischer then served as a Human Factors Officer with the Test Design Division at Sandia Air Station, New Mexico, from February 1966 to August 1968. He was a research associate at the MIT Center for International Studies from August 1968 to August 1969, and then served as a Planning and Programs Officer at Headquarters USAF at the Pentagon from August 1969 to September 1971. During the Vietnam War, Fischer was assigned as an Air Force Advisor to the Republic of Vietnam Air Force at Bien Hoa AB, South Vietnam, from September 1971 to October 1972. Fischer served mainly as a helicopter pilot and flew more than 200 missions over South Vietnam. Fischer served as Vice Commander and then Commander of the Air Force Human Resources Laboratory