97-Year-Old Escondido Man Receives Navy Cross for Secret Mission During Korean War

Escondido resident Royce Williams, who is now 97 years old, was sworn to secrecy about one of the most epic days of his life.

It was 1952, during the Korean War, when then-Lieutenant Williams, a Navy pilot, was sent on a combat air patrol with three other naval aviators when they encountered seven hostile Soviet MiG-15s. Williams shot at the MiGs, and after they reconfigured, he realized he was the lone American left in the fight. Despite being outnumbered, Williams was able to shoot four of the MiGs down before returning to safety on an aircraft carrier. After the mission, he counted 263 bullet holes in his own plane.

“I was just like a machine,” Williams said. "I was just doing what I was trained to do,"

The United States government decided to classify the operation over concerns about publicly acknowledging the Soviets' presence in the Korean War. For decades, Williams was not allowed to talk about what happened to anyone, but about 20 years ago, the records were declassified and word started to travel about Williams’ encounter with the Soviet planes.