Former Navy pilot who kept shooting down four Soviet jets a secret for 50 years is awarded the Navy Cross
FEATUREDWIB AIRWIB HISTORY January 23, 2023 Staff Writer 0
Original graphic illustration used for a poster for the video production about Capt. E. Royce Williams’ historic mission during the Korean War. (Graphic illustration by Austin Rooney)
Gary Robbins
The San Diego Union-Tribune
In one of the most masterful pieces of flying in Navy history, Royce Williams of Escondido took on seven Soviet MiGs in Korea in 1952 and shot down four of them in a solo dogfight that was kept secret for decades because it was fraught with political sensitivities.
He was quietly awarded the Silver Star the following year. But that wasn’t the end of the story.
At the urging of military and political leaders, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro visited San Diego Friday and gave the 97-year-old Williams an “upgrade,” awarding him the Navy Cross in front of about 400 people, including U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan.
The Navy Cross is the second highest military honor conferred by the Navy.
“The thought of one pilot who wasn’t planning to be the mission lead that day to go into a combat like that and to become the mission leader and actually have to fight off seven MiGs is extraordinary,” Del Toro said after the ceremony, which has held at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.
https://warisboring.com/former-navy-pilot-who-kept-shooting-down-four-soviet-jets-a-secret-for-50-years-is-awarded-the-navy-cross/
