Rybarczyk-Fisher correspondence

Raymond Fisher was born Raymond Edward Rybarczyk. Fisher enrolled in the Air Force in 1943, and was sent to Keesler Field in Mississippi at the Air Corps Technical School. On September 12, 1943, Fisher was sent with 106 other men in Class 4949 to Toledo, Ohio for further training. There he was part of the 27th College Training Detachment at the University of Toledo.

In December 1943 Fisher traveled to San Antonio, Texas, for more specialized Air Force training at the San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center and qualified for Bombardier. In February 1944, he traveled to Ellington Field, Texas, where he was part of the Grays 5B-44 in the Bombardier Wing. During this time, his girlfriend Loretta Chester traveled to Los Angeles, California, with her mother to work in an aircraft factory as a riveter.

Fisher's training ended in April 1944, and he remained in Texas waiting to be shipped out. In May he moved to Laredo, Texas, and after a seven-week course he earned his first pair of wings. He then went to Big Spring, Texas for Advanced Training and he began to drop real bombs in the desert.

In NOvember 1944 he traveled to the Columbia Combat Crew Depot in Columbia, South Carolina, to await his assignment. He would remain there until April 1945, during which time he lived with Chester. They married in November. In April 1945, Fisher was sent to Italy where he fought as a bombardier in World War II. The fighting ended in May, but Fisher remained in Italy until he was sent back to the United States in July.

Fisher did not have enough points to be discharged from the United States Army, and had to wait until November 1945 before he was a civilian again. In February 1946 he traveled to Athens, OH to enroll in Ohio University. There, he lived with other GIs in the Men's' Gymnasium awaiting his housing assignment in the newly constructed living quarters. During this time he also began taking classes. His wife joined him in March 1946, when they were assigned their housing. Fisher graduated in June 1948 with a degree in accounting. Sometime in 1947, the couple changed their last name to Fisher. After graduation, the Fishers moved to Michigan.