Capt. Royce Williams - The House of Representatives on Thursday approved an amendment to award the Congressional Medal of Honor to an Escondido resident and former U.S. Navy pilot who won perhaps the longest air battle between an American fighter pilot. and an enemy combatant.
E. Royce Williams, 97, was the subject of an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act by Rep. Darrell Issa and other San Diego-area congressmen, naming the veteran received the nation's highest honor for heroism.
Capt. Royce Williams
Speaking from the floor of the House, Issa praised Williams as "an American hero and an incomparable Top Gun pilot" and said he was "unmatched in the heroism he displayed in 30 harrowing minutes 70 years ago". on the North Pacific and the North Korean coast. "
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"To date, this is the most unique US-Soviet dogfight in Cold War history - and truly the battle of the ages," Issa said.
Captain Williams, who retired from the Navy in the mid-1970s, pilots an F9F Panther single-seat fighter aircraft on a combat air patrol, flying with three other squadron members deployed from a aircraft carrier moored in the Sea of Japan, November 1952, the Americans encountered 7 Soviet MiG-15s at high altitude along the Yalu River.
The commander ordered the men to retreat to the carrier and erect a protective screen, according to mission reports carried by books and other media. All three pilots were successful, but Williams soon found himself surrounded by Soviet fighter aircraft.
Williams was forced to engage the MiGs as they swarmed, finding himself in a grueling half-hour maneuver to avoid being shot down as he tried to take out the Russian pilot who was trying to kill him.
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"I was in a good mood," Williams told the San Diego Union-Tribune recently. "A lot of it was realizing where they were and how I had to maneuver to avoid them. They were taking turns. I decided that if I focused on shooting them down I would be an easy target. So my goal initial was when they made a mistake Look for defensive opportunities."
According to the book "Red Devils on the Yalu", Williams blew up a total of four planes and probably rammed two more, the pilots of which never returned to their Vladivosti gram base.
Williams said he ran out of ammunition and made a bee line for his boat, dodging the seventh MiG pilot by diving in and out of cover through clouds. He landed safely, but then counted over 250 machine gun holes on his F9F.
"He survived, the bullet hit him in the fuselage, and six inches right or left meant death," Issa said.
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Williams was told to keep quiet about the melee so as not to portray a negative image of the Soviet Union, which was not officially involved in the Korean War.
According to one account, President Dwight Eisenhower personally ordered the event to remain secret. It was not officially recognized until the fall of the Iron Curtain and the subsequent release of Soviet archives in the 1990s, which described the air battle in detail.
Since then, several of Williams' personal defenders have attempted to have him nominated for the Medal of Honor, but the efforts produced little momentum.
Along with Issa, four other San Diego County House members joined an advocacy coalition to support him for the medal.
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"We won't stop until Royce Williams gets the recognition he doesn't seek but deserves," Issa said. "Congress has long been waiting to have a say in the awarding of the Congressional Medal of Honor."
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The story of Navy pilot E. Royce Williams who became the only fighter pilot to shoot down four Soviet MiG-15s in a single battle (confirmed by the Russians but not by the US Navy)
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On November 18, 1952, Royce Williams became the highest-scoring naval aviator on a ship and the highest-scoring naval aviator in a naval jet during the Korean War.
U.S. Navy F9F-5 Panther pilots Lt. Claire Ellwood (division commander) and Lt. John Middleton as wingmen, Lt. E. Royce Williams Jr. (division leader) and Lt. Dave Rowlands as wingman. His wingman piloted their aircraft from the USS Oriskany (CVA-34) to intercept seven Russian MiG-15 fighter jets flying towards them from the Soviet base in Vladivostok.
A National Security Agency (NSA) team aboard the heavy cruiser USS Helena (CA-75) believed the MiGs were seeking revenge after the US aircraft launched an attack early that morning in the northeast of North Korea, near the Soviet border.
As Thomas McKelvey Cleaver recounts in his book "Standing the Lines", four F9F-5s take off in a snowstorm. After a few minutes in the clouds, the sky above clears up. Suddenly the Panthers burst out of the clouds and into a clear blue sky at 12,000 feet. They continue to climb. As they passed 16,000 feet, Williams spotted seven wakes at 40,000 feet or more and called the bogies. Moments later, his piercing eyes catch the sunlight on the bright, swept-wing MiG-15s flying side by side, each with the Soviet red star on its side, their wake trailing behind them. "I turned on the sights and fired a shot to test my gun," he recalled. At this point Division Chief Elwood reported that his fuel pump warning light had come on. The fighter commander (FDO) ordered him to cut off and report Oriskany. Elwood headed past Williams as he and winger Middleton turned and dove into the clouds.
Korean War Veteran Captain Royce Williams (ret.) Speaks To Naval Aviation Students As Part Of A Veteran's Day Commemoration Event Held At Naval Aviation School Command (nasc), Nov. 10, 2022. Nasc Provides
“We had just cleared 26,000 feet when the Russians split up and jumped off the runway,” Williams recalled. "The first planes fired at us from the right in a formation of four planes. I went into a sharp left turn and got to MiG number four. I fired a shot and hard hit his rear plane. He came down smoking a cigarette, and my wingman followed him, leaving me alone." Williams now faced six Soviet fighters alone.
The remaining three MiGs of the first group easily accelerated away from the Panthers and mounted to another firing position. Williams saw his left wing rise as he backtracked. "They put me in the cold about handling and acceleration - the MiGs are far superior to the F9Fs in those areas. The only thing I can do is beat them." He managed to cut a burst of fire as the MiGs passed, but nothing was hit. When the first three evacuated again, the other three joined them. Williams, sweating as he backed away, spun to dodge every shot. He glanced back to see a MiG locked in its six o'clock position. He brought the stick back into his gut, threw it towards his right leg and, at the same time, stepped on the starboard rudder, making a very hard vertical right turn with the slipstream spinning out of his end fuel tanks of wing. A MiG grazed his tail.
With the adrenaline pumping, the fight seemed to last an hour. The enemy formation became ragged and Williams had several opportunities to track down a lone MiG as the pilot bored the attack. Some balls seemed to touch, but he couldn't keep up as he stomped on the rudder and hit the ailerons to keep his six clear. "As they passed, I shot at all the MiGs that were in range."
Round. Turn again. Not a second is spent going straight and level. Shoot quickly to get rid of their targets. Turn a little more. Then talk.
Elmer Royce Williams Archives
"Finally the captain and his wingman turned right and I went after the sector captain of the plane which I shot down. He stopped in the sun and I lost him, then I saw the leader and his wingman come in and do a dive attack I shot them and I shot the leader he turned away and the wingman rolled over me and we went belly to belly and I swept away with a long burst. It was on fire and fell. Then the section chief came and I became
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