Episode #118: Medal of Honor Recipient Navy Captain Royce Williams

🎙️ Episode #118 – Medal of Honor Mission DECLASSIFIED with retired Navy Captain Royce Williams Welcome aboard the Lessons from the Cockpit show! I’m your host, Lt. Col. Mark Hasara, retired Air Force KC-135 pilot, Weapons Officer, and Joint Specialty Officer. For more than sixty years, my passion has been aviation—everything that flies, fights, or fuels the mission. Three years ago I had the great opportunity to interview this extraordinary Naval Aviator twice. His name is Navy Captain Royce Williams. Because of events at the State of the Union, I am republishing our episode. I am aware there is a delay when I am speaking and I have no idea why. I don’t feel it detracts from the conversation so I went for it. This may be the most unbelievable air battle you’ve never heard about. A 35-minute air-to-air engagement! Seven enemy MiGs flown by RUSSIAN pilots over North Korea. And total silence for decades. Imagine fighting one of the longest air-to-air engagements in Naval aviation history. You’re alone. You’re outnumbered. You take 265 holes in your jet. You shoot down three enemy aircraft flown by Russian pilots, badly damage a fourth, and you don’t even know what happened to the other three. Years later you learn one crashes in the ocean, another crashes a few miles from its home runway, and one lands on fumes. Then it gets harder. You land on an aircraft carrier in a driving snowstorm. The film from your camera is confiscated. Days later, the President of the United States sits next to you and tells you, “You cannot tell anyone about this.” That’s exactly what happened to Navy Captain Royce Williams. Royce served 37 years in uniform across World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. For decades, his 1952 dogfight over North Korea was classified. The world didn’t know he had taken on seven MiG-15 fighters and survived. Thirty years later, the truth finally began to surface. And recently, at 100 years old, his courage was recognized at the highest levels of our nation. This is not just a story about air combat. This is a story about a Medal of Honor mission caged in secrecy. It’s about courage. It’s about humility. It’s about honor and keeping your word when no one is watching. If you love fighter aviation, carrier ops, and real combat history told by the people who lived it—follow and subscribe. Share this episode with someone who needs to hear what true service and courage looks like. 🛩️ Episode Sponsor – Wall Pilot Custom Aviation Art This episode is proudly sponsored by Wall Pilot, creators of high-detail vinyl aircraft profiles you can peel and stick on any flat surface. Choose from 158+ ready-to-print aircraft, or order a custom aircraft with your name on the canopy, unit markings, and even a custom weapons load. Perfect for your office, hangar, squadron space, or man cave—Wall Pilot preserves aviation history one aircraft at a time. 👉 Visit https://wallpilot.com 🎖️ Join the All Ranks Club on Patreon Want more content like this and direct access to the stories behind the missions? Join my All Ranks Club on Patreon and help keep Lessons from the Cockpit airborne. 🎧 Membership perks include: Exclusive Q&A sessions and hangar talks Virtual Bar Nights with aviators and listeners from around the world Monthly 7-inch collector aircraft profile stickers Early looks at future episodes and Wall Pilot designs 👉 Join here: https://www.patreon.com/c/lessonsfromthecockpit/membership 🎁 Gift a membership to the aviation nut in your life: https://www.patreon.com/lessonsfromthecockpit/gift 💸 Fuel the Mission – Support the Show Directly If you value these stories and want to keep them flying: ✈️ Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/Mark-Hasara ✈️ Zelle: [email protected] Every contribution helps keep these lessons, voices, and experiences alive. 📲 Follow Me for More Aviation Content ▶️ YouTube: @markhasara 📷 Instagram: @markhasara 🎬 TikTok: @markhasara Thanks for flying with me and helping share the real stories of aviation, leadership, and combat airpower. Nobody kicks ass without tanker gas… NOBODY! #aviation #avgeek #military #airforce #army #navy #usmc #pilot #pilotlife #flight #flying #fly #aircraft #airplane #plane #jet #airport #photo #photography #video #videoviral #viralvideos#lessonsfromthecockpit #podcast #show #takeoff