Bestowing on honor on Lt. Williams

Greetings. On behalf of Sen. Larry Zikmund, chairman of the Senate Military and Veterans Affairs Committee of South Dakota and myself, Rep. Tim Goodwin, Chairman Of the House Military and Veterans Affairs Committee of South Dakota.

Whereas, Royce Williams was raised on a farm near Wilmot, South Dakota, during the Great Depression, and he grew up embodying the values of hard work, courage, and leadership; and

Whereas, Royce Williams earned a commission in the United States Navy, became a naval aviator, and was assigned to fly the F9F Panther while on combat duty off the coast of North Korea in November of 1952; and

Whereas, Lieutenant Junior Grade Williams was on combat air patrol with a group of three other pilots on 18 November, 1952, when seven Soviet MiG-15s approaching the US fleet engaged the fighters; and

Whereas, three of the pilots were ordered to return to the USS Oriskany, but the Soviet MiG-15s had already fired upon Williams, who was engaged in aerial combat for the next 35 minutes, which is believed to be the longest dogfight in U.S. Navy history, and Williams shot down four enemy aircraft and damaged two others before ultimately landing his aircraft back on the deck of the USS Oriskany; and

Whereas, the United States intercepted the Soviet Air Force’s transmissions confirming the hostile intent on the US fleet, the attack, and the loss of Soviet aircraft, but due to the security classification, Lieutenant Junior Grade Williams was directed never to speak of the event, and knowledge of the event remained classified until 1990, after Williams retired with the rank of Captain following a distinguished career; and

Whereas, in December, 2025, the Secretary of the Navy recommended upgrading Captain Williams’ military decoration to the Medal of Honor, and the President of the United States personally called to inform Captain Royce Williams of his intent to award him the nation’s highest honor for courage in the face of the enemy;

Now, therefore, be it commemorated, by the One Hundred First Legislature of the State of South Dakota, that Captain Royce Williams is recognized for his exemplary military career and bravery in combat.

Can you believe this unbelievable act of bravery by Junior Grade Williams, U.S. Navy in 1952? 

Because it was classified and not being known to the public that Russia MiGs were involved in tactical operations, our very own Navy pilot Junior Grade Williams, U.S. Navy, was in the longest, most dangerous dogfight in U.S. history—35 minutes in duration—in which Lt. Williams shot four Russian MiGs and damaged two other MiGs before ultimately exiting the battle and landing his aircraft back on the deck of the U.S. Oriskany.

Because of security classifications, ie Russian MiGs were not supposed to be fighting us in the Korean War, right? This whole combat was classified and Lt. Williams was ordered not to talk about this instance ever again. That was in 1952. It wasn’t until this mission was reclassified and the U.S. Navy did an investigation as to what happened that Lt. Williams was nominated for our country’s highest award, the Congressional Medal of Honor!

President Trump has approved this well deserved award and the ceremony is yet to take place! More to follow.