More than once I’ve wondered ‘why’ some things were classified for XX years…
And THIS is one of them! 70 frickin years???
The Navy awarded the Navy Cross to retired Navy Capt. Royce Williams last week for downing four Soviet MiG-15 aircraft during the Korean War in what is still the longest recorded dogfight in U.S. military history.
On Nov. 18, 1952, then-Lt. Williams, an F9F-5 Panther jet fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier Oriskany, was flying a combat patrol mission off the coast of Korea with two other F9F pilots when they encountered seven Soviet MiGs.
Full article, HERE.
He should never have had to buy a beer in his life… Grrr…
Here’s another article I found on Capt. Williams’ actions that provides more details: https://tinyurl.com/bx6bhhkd
“Williams’ Panther was so badly damaged that it could only pitch up and down and had to perform a high-speed landing to prevent stalling. His F9F was found with 263 holes afterwards.”
I’m also glad to read that there’s an ongoing campaign to see that Williams is awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.
Good ole department of state, filled with left-over commies after WWII, didn’t want the American people to find out that roosevelt’s best buddy from said WWII(Stalin) was bent on attacking an American ship.
Arg- Yep, one helluva story, and one of ‘many’…
0007- Excellent point!
In an F9F yet. Jeebus. Reminds me of Stanley Winfield “Swede” Vejtasa —
Ever since “Blazing Angels” (PS3, 2006) these WW2 flight sim games have gotten ever more realistic. Some games even add grainy effects to make video captures look like stock footage. From about 2007 to 2017 an man named Neil Pugh tracked down and recorded veterans of the 317, 318, and 325 ‘Checkertails,’ and then recruited online players of “IL-2 Sturmovik 1946” to recreate in CG the engagements that the veterans had recited. He produced and released three full-length videos and disclaimed copyrights (i.e, free to download and share – that their deeds be better known and remembered.)
Part 1:
Part 2:
“Last Voices of the Checkertail Clan:”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTGEmVGnjYo
Enjoy!
Wow.
I remember hearing about this guy a little while back and wondered where the movie was.
Still barely unknown, that a lot of Chinese sightseers were flown by Russians. And several known to be POW pilots were never returned after the truce was signed.
According to RUSSIAN records, they claim that Williams downed SIX of the 7 MiGs that engaged him! Only ONE made it back to a base. The sixth one crashlanded short of the field, one disappeared and was never found, and the rest were seen to go down in the ocean.
Considering what he was flying, that is some spectacular results.
The facts are that his commanders in the NAVY conspired to steal his accomplishments from the public due to fear of our opponents…
Will the VA insurance be covering the cost of a dump truck for him to carry his clanking brass balls in for the remainder of his days?
What a f**king LEGEND!
Real-life Maverick: he should send Tom Cruise an autographed photo of himself.