President Donald Trump, during his State of the Union address Tuesday, presented the Medal of Honor to retired Navy Capt. Royce Williams, carving out a moment of unity amid a partisan evening.
“Tonight, at 100 years old, this brave Navy captain is finally getting the recognition he deserves. He was a legend long before this evening,” Trump said, prompting a standing ovation from both sides of the congressional aisle.
The Medal of Honor was bestowed on Williams by first lady Melania Trump.
On Nov. 18, 1952, Williams launched from the deck of the USS Oriskany in his F9F-5 Panther fighter aircraft and quickly found himself in a solo dogfight against seven Soviet MiG-15 jets. In a battle lasting 35 minutes — an eternity in aerial combat — he downed four enemy aircraft, survived a 37mm cannon, and still managed to return to his carrier off the North Korean coast. The next day, the crew counted 263 holes that stippled the Panther’s frame.
“You’d be surprised, it was almost like a training mission,” Williams said in a past account of the moment. “I was pretty stable.”
Williams was awarded a Silver Star in 1953, which was elevated to the Navy Cross in 2023.
The mission, at the behest of President-elect Dwight Eisenhower, was classified as top secret to avoid revealing to the Soviets that the Americans were intercepting their communications. Williams kept silent for more than half a century. When he was contacted by the U.S. government to be informed that his mission had been declassified, the first person he told was his wife.
Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican and former Army captain who lobbied for Williams to receive the medal, called it “the most unique U.S.-Soviet aerial combat dogfight in the history of the Cold War.”
“The heroism and valor he demonstrated for more than 35 harrowing minutes almost 70 years ago in the skies over the North Pacific and the coast of North Korea unquestionably saved the lives of his fellow pilots, shipmates, and crew,” he said in a statement.
Issa, who introduced and helped secure the passage of the “Valor Has No Expiration Act,” eliminated the five-year statute of limitations for Medal of Honor consideration. The change created a pathway for extraordinary feats — including those from earlier wars or previously classified records — to receive formal recognition long after they occurred.
Trump also presented the Medal of Honor to Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 Eric Slover, a helicopter pilot wounded in the raid that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Tanya Noury is a reporter for Military Times and Defense News, with coverage focusing on the White House and Pentagon.
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