Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient 

Royce Williams was born on April 4, 1925, and grew up in Wilmot, South Dakota, and Clinton, Minnesota. He became an Eagle Scout and served as a corporal in the Minnesota State Guard before joining the Navy. Inspired to become a pilot alongside his brother, he enlisted during World War II, though his flight training was delayed while he attended college.

He began flight training in 1944 on the N3N and completed advanced training in 1945 on multiple aircraft, qualifying as a naval aviator in August 1945 at Pensacola. In 1946, he became operational on the F6F Hellcat and deployed aboard the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt and USS Princeton, later flying the F4U Corsair and other aircraft with several fighter squadrons through 1949.

Williams earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Minnesota (1949–1950) and a master’s degree from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1951. From 1952 to 1954, he deployed aboard the USS Oriskany and USS Boxer, then flew F-86 Sabres and F-100 Super Sabres at Nellis Air Force Base. In 1957, while stationed at Naval Air Facility El Centro, he was injured in a crash caused by engine failure during takeoff in an F9F Panther. He continued his career, attending the Joint Forces Staff College in 1958 and serving aboard the USS Intrepid and USS Independence from 1959 to 1960. He later flew the F-8E Crusader, worked at the Bureau of Naval Personnel, and became commanding officer of VF-33 from 1964 to 1965, flying off the USS Enterprise and USS America.

Williams retired from the Navy as a captain in January 1980. After retiring, he settled in Escondido, California. Over the course of his career, he logged approximately 4,500 flight hours, including about 3,000 in jet aircraft and 1,500 in propeller-driven planes, and completed 518 fixed-wing aircraft carrier landings. During the Korean War, he flew 70 combat missions.

He also survived a serious in-flight emergency when both engines of his F-4 caught fire; after his radar intercept officer ejected, Williams successfully flew the aircraft back to base.

This rare recovery allowed Navy engineers to identify and fix a recurring twin-engine fire issue that had previously gone unresolved because such aircraft were typically lost.