President Donald Trump bestowed the Medal of Honor on Escondido war hero Royce Williams during Tuesday night’s State of the Union address in Washington, triggering a standing ovation that lasted more than two minutes and left the 100-year-old retired Navy fighter pilot humbled and smiling. The med al was draped around Williams’ neck by first lady Melania Trump, who sat with him throughout the president’s record-long national address in the House chamber of the Capitol. Williams was given the military’s highest honor for courageously taking on seven Soviet MiG aircraft over Korea in 1952 and knocking four of them out of the sky in what is widely regarded as one of the longest and toughest aerial dogfights in the history of the Navy. The fight lasted 35 minutes and ended with Williams guiding his bullet-ridden F9F-5 aircraft onto an aircraft carrier that worked hard to help him land safely. “Despite being massively outnumbered and outgunned, Royce led the takedown of four enemy jets and almost destroyed the others,” Trump said in the closing moments of his speech. He was “vanquishing adversaries while taking 263 bullets to his own plane and being seriously hurt …Tonight, at 100 years old, this brave Navy captain is finally getting the recognition he deserves,” Trump said. First Lady Melania Trump places the Medal of Honor around the neck of Navy Capt. Royce Williams. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images) Williams’ feat remained unknown to the public for decades because the Soviets were not directly involved in the war at the time. The details have since surfaced, and they have stirred awe among military veterans. “Royce was in aerial combat for about 35 minutes with a whole bunch of enemy planes; he didn’t even know how many of them there were,” said Jim Kidrick, executive director of the San Diego Air and Space Museum and a former Navy fighter pilot. “All he knew was that he was alone and every one of those planes was trying to shoot him down. He took on a world he didn’t necessarily see coming and beat them. “The Medal of Honor he received is long overdue.” Federal statute made Williams ineligible until just recently to receive the medal. The Congressional Medal of Honor Society recommendations for the medal must be submitted within three years of the valorous act, and the medal must be presented within five years. Any submissions outside of this timeline require an act of Congress. An Encinitas-based group of veterans and others, calling themselves Operation Just Reward, lobbied the government and military to give Williams his due. In 2023, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro awarded Williams the Navy Cross in San Diego. And this year, Williams became eligible for the Medal of Honor with the approval of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, which eliminates any time constraints Williams might face in a review of his combat actions. Trump then formally requested that Williams receive the medal. Williams’ story “is a reminder that aircraft carrier aviation is such a unique, high-demand, pressure-packed environment where you always have to be at the top of your game and never lower than that,” said Greg “Chaser” Keithley, a retired Navy aviator who lives in Chula Vista. “And that’s who (Williams) was. He was out on a routine mission on what was supposed to be an average day and within minutes it was him against seven other aircraft. He was the epitome of excellence in those moments,” Keithley said. “It’s a call out to everyone on carriers today to be the best at what you do. Good is not enough. The nation depends on excellence.” Trump on Tuesday night also bestowed the Medal of Honor on Chief Warrant Officer Eric Slover, a U.S. Army helicopter pilot who continued to fly despite being injured in the recent raid on Venezuela. ...read more read less