Seoul, South Korea
CNN
—
Lois Williams was the real-life “Top Gun” a decade before Tom Cruise was born.
On a cold day in November 1952, Williams shot down four Soviet fighter planes, becoming a legend unheard of for over 50 years.
The former Navy aviator, now 97, was awarded the Navy Cross, the service’s second-highest military honor, at a ceremony in California on Friday.
Navy secretary Carlos del Toro said Friday that of the many proposals he considered to upgrade the sailor’s award, Williams’ case “stands out above all others.” , and it was clear to me that it was more closely aligned with the criteria that describe the higher medals.
“Freedom doesn’t come cheap,” Del Toro said. “It comes through the sacrifices of all those who serve and continue to serve in the military today. Your actions that day kept you free. We kept them free, in fact they set us all free.
Here’s what Williams did to earn that honor.
On November 18, 1952, Williams flew the F9F Panther, the US Navy’s first jet fighter, on a mission during the Korean War.
He took off from the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany, which was operating with three other aircraft carriers in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, 100 miles off the coast of North Korea.
Williams, then 27, and three other fighter pilots were ordered to a combat air patrol near the Yalu River, the northernmost tip of the Korean Peninsula that separates North Korea from China. To the northeast is Russia, then part of the Soviet Union, which aided North Korea in the conflict.
While four U.S. Navy jets were on patrol, the group leader suffered a mechanical problem and returned to the offshore task force with Wingman.
As such, Williams and his wingman were left alone on the mission.
Then, to our surprise, seven Soviet MiG-15 fighter jets were confirmed heading towards the US task force.
“They came out of Russia and had never been involved with us before,” Williams said in 2021. Interview with the American Veterans Center.
The task force’s prudent commander ordered two U.S. Navy jets to position themselves between the MiG and the U.S. warship.
While doing this, he recalled, four of the Soviet MiGs turned on Williams and opened fire.
He fired on the MiG in the tail, then dropped out of the four Soviet formations, and Williams’ wingman shot down the Soviet jet.
At that point, the carrier’s U.S. commander ordered him not to engage the Soviets, he said.
“I said, ‘I’m engaged,'” Williams recalled in an interview.
Williams also said he knew the Soviet jets were faster than him and that if he tried to cut them off, they would catch and kill him.
“At the time, the MiG-15 was the best fighter in the world,” he said in an interview, saying it could climb and dive faster than American jets.
His plane, he said, was better suited for air-to-ground combat than air combat.
But now he’s one with not just one, but six Soviet jets.
A 30-plus minute dogfight followed, with Williams constantly turning and weaving as one area where the F9F could compete with Soviet aircraft to prevent superior MiGs from pinning their guns on him. I mixed them up.
“I was automatic, I was doing it like I was trained,” he said.
So did the Soviet Union.
“But in some cases…they made mistakes,” Williams said.
One flew at him, but ceased firing and sank below him. Williams believed the pilot had been killed by his shooting.
And he explained that another MiG came right in front of him, gunned it down, and it disintegrated. I steered sharply to
According to an engagement report from the US Navy Memorial website, Williams fired all 760 of the F9F’s 20 mm shells during the battle.
However, the Soviets also attacked the Williams, disabling the rudder and wing control surfaces, leaving only the rear elevator to move the jet up and down.
Fortunately, at this point he was headed in the direction of a US task force off the coast. However, one of the remaining Soviet jets was still attached to his tail.
He said the bullets flew above and below him as he moved, in an up-and-down roller coaster pattern that the Soviet pilot was trying to get a clear shot.
According to the Navy Memorial account, Williams’ wingman rejoined combat at this point, riding the Soviet’s tail to frighten him off.
However, Williams still had to make a difficult flight to return the damaged jet to the carrier.
First, the task force was wary of possible attacks by Soviet fighters, and its enhanced air defense system initially thought Williams’ F9Fs were MiGs, destroyers escorting American carriers. A ship fired at him.
Williams said his commander quickly stopped it, removing one danger.
Still, Williams had to get the jets onto the carrier’s deck. This was normally done at an airspeed of 105 knots (120 mph). However, he already knew that if the speed fell below his 170 knots (195 mph), the aircraft would stall and plunge into the icy waters.
And he couldn’t turn around to line up with his career. So the captain decided to take the unusual step of keeping the carrier in line with the Williams.
worked. He crashed onto the deck and caught the third and final arrest wire.
On the carrier’s deck, the Navy crew counted 263 holes in Williams’ plane. According to the Navy Memorial’s account, it was in such terrible condition that it was pushed off the ship and out to sea.
But when the plane disappeared under the waves, something else was needed – the fact that the US-Soviet dogfight actually happened.
News of Williams’ heroism climbed to the top, according to the Navy Memorial website, and then-President Dwight Eisenhower was eager to speak with the pilot among U.S. officials.
“After the battle, Williams was personally interviewed by several Admirals, the Secretary of Defense and the President. He was instructed not to discuss the engagement because it could spark World War III between the United States and the Soviet Union,” the website says.
The US Department of Defense’s account of the incident also noted that the US military was testing a new wiretapping device that day. There was concern that clarifying the role of the Soviet Union in the war would undermine U.S. superiority.
Williams’ dogfight record was promptly classified by US authorities, and he swore secrecy. This meant that it would be more than 50 years before his victory was fully recognized.
In 1953, Williams was awarded the Silver Star, but the citation did not refer to Soviet aircraft, merely “enemy” aircraft. And it only mentioned three kills. The fourth, the website says, was unknown until Russian records were released in the 1990s.
As such, Williams couldn’t tell even the people closest to him until 2002, when the records were declassified.
According to the Pentagon, “for the rest of his naval career, and decades after his retirement, the details of Williams’ dogfight with a Soviet MiG over North Korea remained secret.”
“When he was finally contacted by the government and told that his mission had been declassified, the first person Williams spoke to was his wife.”
The following year, a group of veterans who learned of what Williams had done said the Silver Star was an insufficient reward for Williams, with some saying he should be awarded the military’s highest award, the Medal of Honor.
Last December, more than 70 years after the Korean War air battle, del Toro said Williams’ Silver Star should be promoted to Navy Cross.
Rep. Darrell Issa of California, who called on Williams for the upgraded medal, called Williams “a one-of-a-kind Top Gun pilot and an eternal American hero.”
“To this day, it remains the most unique U.S.-Soviet dogfight in the history of the Cold War,” Issa said in a statement.
“The heroism and courage he displayed during a harrowing 35 minutes over the North Pacific and North Korean coasts 70 years ago saved the lives of his fellow pilots, sailors and crew. His story is old. It’s been there since, but now it’s been told in full.”