Colonel Harold Edward Fischer Jr. (May 8, 1925 – April 30, 2009)[1] was a United States Air Force fighter pilot and flying ace of the Korean War.

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.

For most of that time, he was kept in a dark, damp cell 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.

[4] 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.

[5] After his release, Fischer received an Air Force Institute of Technology assignment to Iowa State College.

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.

An Air Force widow, Mary Jane Erickson, wrote to Fischer during his captivity and the two married shortly after his release.

Fischer met Decai, when he joined a group of Flying Tiger pilots who had been invited to visit China.

On that date, while leading a flight of two F-86 Sabre Jets on an air superiority mission over North Korea, Captain Fischer sighted a formation of sixteen enemy MIG-15s heading south across the Yalu River.

Although under intense enemy fire, Captain Fischer tenaciously pursued the leading MIG-15 through violent evasive maneuvers until he had destroyed it.

Again demonstrating extreme courage and outstanding flying skill, Captain Fischer pressed his attack until the MIG-15 was destroyed.