A U.S. Naval aviator from Escondido who survived -- and prevailed -- in perhaps the longest aerial dogfight between a lone American fighter pilot and enemy combatants in history is slated to receive the Navy's highest award for valor.
ESCONDIDO — Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Temecula, said Friday a U.S. Naval aviator from Escondido who survived -- and prevailed -- in perhaps the longest aerial dogfight between a lone American fighter pilot and enemy combatants in history is slated to receive the Navy's highest award for valor.
"Williams is ... a Top Gun pilot like no other, and an American hero for all time," Issa said."The heroism and valor he demonstrated for 35 harrowing minutes, 70 years ago in the skies over the North Pacific and the coast of North Korea saved the lives of his fellow pilots, shipmates and crew. His story is one for the ages, but is now being fully told."
The young lieutenant was forced to engage the MiGs as they swarmed him, culminating in a half-hour of twisting, turning and other gut-wrenching maneuvers to avoid being shot down and position the Panther to fire back at the Russian pilots trying to kill him. Williams said that he ran out of ammunition and made a bee line for his ship, evading the seventh MiG pilot by diving in and out of clouds for cover. He landed uneventfully, but later counted more than 250 machine gun holes in his F9F.
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