Colonel Harold Edward Fischer Jr. (May 8, 1925 – April 30, 2009) was a United States Air Force fighter pilot and flying ace of the Korean War. He accrued 11 victories in the war. He is also one of the two flying aces to be Prisoners of War during the war. He was released in 1955 and continued to serve in the USAF until 1978. Early life Fischer was born near Lone Rock, Iowa, in a farm on May 8, 1925. As a child, he enjoyed reading magazines about World War I Flying Aces. Fischer attended Iowa State University for two years. Military service Fischer enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserve on April 17, 1943, and entered the V-5 Aviation Cadet Program on October 8, 1943. Fischer left the V-5 program on July 10, 1944, and reverted to civilian status. He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army on February 16, 1949, and transferred to the U.S. Air Force on June 23, 1949. Fischer completed pilot training at Williams AFB, Arizona, in December 1950. Korean War Fischer was assigned to the 80th Fighter Bomber Squadron in Korea in April 1951. Based at Kimpo Air Base, he flew ground attack missions in the Lockheed F-80 Shooting Stars until May 1952, when he was assigned to the 41st Fighter Interceptor Squadron, flying the North American F-86 Sabre. Serving with the 39th Fighter Interceptor Squadron of the 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing at Suwon Air Base, Fischer shot down eleven MiG-15s, while flying more than 175 combat missions. On April 7, 1953, he was shot down and ejected from his F-86 Sabre north of the Yalu River, in a dogfight with three MiGs that extended into Chinese territory, an area that the Air Force had specifically ordered its pilots not to enter. Contrary to these facts, the Soviets did not admit their operations alongside the Chinese in the Korean War, and dispute the consideration that a Chinese pilot had shot down Fischer. Peasants surrounded him; then Chinese soldiers pulled up in a jeep. Ten days later, he was taken to the prison near Mukden. Prisoner of War Fischer was taken captive by Chinese military personnel and imprisoned near Shenyang, Liaoning Province. Although the Korean Armistice Agreement called for the release of all prisoners of war, Fischer was not freed. For most of that time, he was kept in a dark, damp cell