Posted on 05/02/2016 2:27:01 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Williams single-handedly shot down four Russian fighters, a record-breaking feat never recognized or even known until recently
Retired U.S. Navy Cpt. E. Royce Williams will never forget November 18, 1952.
Here came four of them from the front side all firing and the others were coming around from the other side We came in head on, Williams remembered. I saw bullets go over me and under me then over me So the fight went on and on and on.
Williams, who fought in the Korean War, single-handedly shot down four Russian fighters a record-breaking feat never recognized or even known until recently.
Thats because Williams achievement was kept 'top secret' for more than 50 years.
I didn't tell anyone, including my wife and my brother whos a naval aviator. No one, Williams said. I had a meeting with President Eisenhower and I didnt even talk about that.
The weather was bad that day with low clouds, heavy wind and snow, but that didnt keep Williams from doing his duty.
In his F9F-5 Panther Williams took on seven superior MiG-15s in a fierce dogfight lasting roughly 35 minutes.
When I take into account the level capability of the airplane it was sort of like, God giving David a task of Goliath only I had seven Goliaths.
The aviation historians, the knowledgeable ones, will tell you without a blemish that this event by Royce was unmatched in the Korean War, was unmatched in the Vietnam War, unmatched ever since then. It stands alone all by itself as a really amazing situation, Rear Admiral Doniphan B. Shelton (Ret.) said. He was never recognized properly for what he did on this one day We hope he will be properly recognized sometime soon.
Last year Shelton initiated the request to have Williams achievement re-reviewed through Congressman Duncan Hunter's office along with the endorsements of two four star-admirals, Hays and Hayward.
Theres nothing wrong with the Silver Star that they gave him, believe me, thats a wonderful award, but its not what he earned, Shelton explained Shelton said if the proper record was known from the beginning Williams would have received the Navy Cross or Medal of Honor.
I am the only person to have ever shot down four jets in one mission...and on my first mission at that...so I don't know, maybe that qualifies, Williams said about the possibility of a medal. People say thank you for your service, I say thank you for letting me serve.
Now, Williams, who has been dubbed the forgotten hero of the forgotten war, may just be a little closer to being remembered.
Supporters of Williams and his story are creating a nationwide campaign to gather 100,000 signatures for a petition to demand a re-review for recognition.
They are launching the petition on Saturday May 14th at the San Diego Ride for Vets.
“It says it was kept top secret for fifty years, during that time he didnt talk about it. Now he can.”
That is the big question— was this information declassified recently or not. If those who do the classification determined that this info is no longer dangerous to release it and officially declassified it, that is one thing, then he can talk about it, if he is allowed to do so.
But if the info was not officially declassified, then it is still considered detrimental to the US, to release it, doesn’t matter how long ago it was.
From the article it appeared to me that it was not officially declassified, then he was committing a major security breach by releasing it. We really don’t need to go to war with Russia right now.
Curious, to note something like this had been classified to that level, and held for so long. USN was engaged at that point in a struggle for resources with USAF, and the publicity over this would have helped their cause.
A large number of USAF recce missions went north of the line in that period, and the crews were never allowed to divulge what they had done. Mass declassification came only in the 1990s.
CAPT Williams’ encounter went down at a time when the performance characteristics of USN fighter aircraft were not that wonderful; whether CAPT Williams knew this is another question. And whether it would have mattered is yet another question: fighter pilots have more than their share of ego, and faith in their abilities, justified or not. Got to give him the nod, for courage.
Of course, he could simply have gotten lucky.
Ping
Thanks /
Thanks for the photo or drawing!
It must be a good feeling to be able to look back on a day like that, not least because, well, he didn’t die.
Things are classified for a reason.
. . . so that no honest American will know what Hillary Clinton - and anyone she shares with, intentionally or not - knows.
Hillary had motive and opportunity to hire Craig Livingstone, and her secret - at least from us - server shows that Livingstones behavior towards classified information is in character for Hillary.
Today it’s widely known that there was an entire Soviet aviation regiment flying MiG-15’s with Chinese and NK markings. It’s also been accepted that our F-86’s crossed the Yalu to orbit Chinese and even Soviet airbases to prevent them from taking off. When the authorities de-classify they are going to have a heckuva time enforcing secrecy agreements.
He is truly a class act.
Thanks for the ping, my FRiend!
Taxman Bravo Zulu! for Captain Williams!
Capt. Williams was the best pilot that day. He had more situational awareness than simply dumb luck. He kept his energy level up and made the MiG-15's fight on his level and not to their own advantage. The Russian pilots could have backed off and easily picked off the F9F-5 Panther, but they pressed an engagement giving the Panther snap shots. When turning and losing speed and energy before you end up in the weeds if you have a window to bug out safely you do it if you can. Adrenaline got the better of the MiG pilots and at the very end when the Captain finally had a MiG on his tail his wingmen showed up again and took care of that.
You have to wonder in a political system that choses pilots and tells them what to do and some of those MiG pilots may not have really liked flying at all, as apposed to an American system where young men dream of flying and can't wait for every moment they get some stick time and love every moment in the air - the motivation factor and flying skills make a big advantage.
Captain Williams was the better pilot that day! He had guts, audacity, was there to CAP and protect his battle group, did not back off and flew well enough in a tough plane. His only luck was the MiG's were bad shots and when they did make hits on the Panther they were not lethal. Read about the flight and he only had fully functional stabs with no rudder or flaps and landed at 170 knots just to keep it stable and still flying. They dumped the F9F over the side after he caught a 3 wire because it was so shot up.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.