V
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1819
To authorize the President to award the Medal of Honor to E. Royce Williams
for acts of valor during the Korean War.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH3, 2025
Mr. I
SSAintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Armed Services
A BILL
To authorize the President to award the Medal of Honor
to E. Royce Williams for acts of valor during the Korean
War.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 3
Congress finds the following: 4
(1) On November 18, 1952, then Lieutenant E. 5
Royce Williams and Combat Air Patrol Task Force 6
77 carried out an airstrike on the Hoeryong indus-7
trial complex near the Korea-Russia border. In re-8
sponse, seven Soviet MiG–15s launched from a So-9
viet base near Vladivostok. Williams and three other 10
VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:59 Mar 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1819.IH H1819
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2
•HR 1819 IH
U.S. pilots flying F9F–5 Panthers were dispatched 1
from the U.S.S. Oriskany to pursue the seven MiG– 2
15s in blizzard conditions to engage over the Sea of 3
Japan. 4
(2) When the Flight Leader’s instruments re-5
ported a fuel-pump warning, he was escorted back to 6
the U.S.S. Oriskany by his wingman. 7
(3) Williams and his wingman, Dave Rowlands, 8
remained airborne. Williams fired upon one MiG–15 9
and Rowlands followed it out of formation, leaving 10
Williams to pursue the remaining six MiG–15s on 11
his own. In his efforts, Williams expended all of his 12
ammunition and shot down four, very likely five, of 13
the seven Soviet MiG–15s, setting the American avi-14
ator record for MiGs shot in a single sortie and the 15
only naval dogfight over water in the Korean War. 16
(4) After sustaining a hit from a 37 millimeter 17
shell that disabled his electrical and hydraulic sys-18
tems, Williams underwent enemy fire while returning 19
to the carrier as well as friendly fire from escort ves-20
sels after being mistaken for enemy aircraft. 21
(5) Without rudders to slow his descent, Wil-22
liams landed on the U.S.S. Oriskany at a speed of 23
170 knots, miraculously able to safely engage the 24
number three wire. 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Mar 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1819.IH H1819
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3
•HR 1819 IH
(6) Williams’ aircraft sustained 263 holes and 1
a foot-long gash while the only injury sustained by 2
Williams was a bloody neck, chafed by his gear. Wil-3
liams was told not to speak of the events of that day 4
by his commanders, and, at the time, was only offi-5
cially credited for one downed and one damaged 6
enemy in the fight. 7
(7) Witnesses to this heroism were the first unit 8
of the then newly created National Security Agency, 9
codenamed ‘‘Canoe’’, aboard the USS Helena. Inter-10
cepting Soviet communications, the unit recorded 11
the transmissions that three Soviet MiGs were shot 12
down, and one pilot ejected his compromised aircraft 13
and then died. One aircraft returned to base in 14
Vladivostok. 15
(8) At the end of the Cold War, Russia released 16
the names of the four pilots shot down in combat on 17
November 18, 1952. 18
(9) When Williams was awarded the Silver Star 19
for his actions on November 18, 1952, the drafters 20
did not have access to the top secret radio intel-21
ligence or the subsequent Russian report released 22
after the Cold War. 23
VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:59 Mar 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1819.IH H1819
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4
•HR 1819 IH
(10) Williams served in the Navy for over 30 1
years, flew over 220 missions in Korea and Vietnam, 2
and retired in 1984. 3
(11) On January 20th, 2023, Williams’ Silver 4
Star was upgraded by the Secretary of the Navy to 5
the Navy Cross. 6
(12) E. Royce Williams deserves the Congres-7
sional Medal of Honor for his heroic actions on No-8
vember 18, 1952, when he successfully eliminated 9
four, likely five, of seven MiG–15s in a far less supe-10
rior aircraft during the 35-minute-long aerial battle 11
wherein he never once sought safety in the clouds or 12
abandoned the mission despite being outnumbered 13
and outgunned. 14
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR AWARD OF MEDAL OF HONOR 15
TO E. ROYCE WILLIAMS FOR ACTS OF VALOR 16
DURING THE KOREAN WAR. 17
(a) W
AIVER OF TIMELIMITATIONS.—Notwith-18
standing the time limitations specified in section 8298 of 19
title 10, United States Code, or any other time limitation 20
with respect to the awarding of certain medals to persons 21
who served in the Armed Forces, the President may award 22
the Medal of Honor under section 8291 of such title to 23
E. Royce Williams for the acts of valor described in sub-24
section (b). 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:59 Mar 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1819.IH H1819
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5
•HR 1819 IH
(b) ACTS OFVALORDESCRIBED.—The acts of valor 1
described in this subsection are the actions of E. Royce 2
Williams, as a lieutenant in the Navy, on November 18, 3
1952. 4
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:59 Mar 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1819.IH H1819
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB