He enlisted as a private at age eighteen and climbed through the ranks to general. Born in Melrose, Minnesota, young Howard was employed by a construction company at Fort Sill, Oklahoma when he heard about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. General Fish enlisted in July of 1942, entered the Army Air Force, and trained as a navigator on a B-17. Overseas, he was based in Foggia, Italy as part of the 419^th Bomb Squadron of the 301^st Bomb Group. In February of 1945, flak hit his aircraft on his twenty-third mission. Howard bailed out and landed near the Danube. His German captors sent him to a prisoner of war camp in Nuremberg. He escaped, was re-captured, and then finally liberated by advancing American forces. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service, and then spent a stellar career in the Air Force. He entered the first jet bomber unit, served in Korea, and graduated first in his class at Air Command Staff College. General Fish served in Vietnam, and then held several positions in the Pentagon, including deputy director of the budget for the Air Force and Assistant Vice Chief of the Air Force. He retired as a major general, and entered a civilian career with LTV Corporation in Dallas as a vice president. He retired again in 1997.