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On November 18, 1952, in blizzard conditions during events the U.S government kept secret for 50 years, then- Lieutenant Royce Williams and three other Navy pilots were flying their F9 Panther jets on a bombing mission along the border between North Korea and the former Soviet Union, one of the Americans' first forays that far north, when Williams spotted seven MiG-15s overhead, planes superior to the American Panthers. Royce and the others did not know the origin of the MiGs, whether they were North Korean, Chinese, or Soviet. e Soviet Union was not officially a combatant in the Korean War, but given how close they were to the border, it was a possibility. Engine trouble and confusion at the sight of the MiGs caused the three other pilots to turn back to their carrier task force. Williams was ordered back to the task force as well, but by then he reported he was already fighting for his life. Left in a one-man dogfight with seven MiGs, Williams, who grew up in South Dakota and joined the military in 1941 after the attack on Pearl Harbor, demonstrated both unparalleled skill and heroics, shooting down four MiGs and likely hitting two others. irty-five minutes later — considered the longest aerial dogfight to ever take place — there was only one MiG still in the sky with him, and Williams was finally able to return to the task force as well. He was uninjured, but his rudder and ailerons no longer functioned and there were 263 bullet holes in his Panther jet. e story of Williams' dogfight with the MiGs led to his being debriefed by both the Secretary of Defense and the newly inaugurated President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who, with his advisors, made the decision to cover up the battle so as not to draw the Russians further into the conflict if, in fact, the MiGs were Soviet. It was scrubbed from U.S. Navy and National Security records, and Williams was sworn to secrecy. Focus military Royce Williams, pictured recently at the weekly Bagels & Baloney breakfast held at the Remington Club in Rancho Bernardo, which is open to all military and former military pilots as well as the public << ROYCE WILLIAMS IN 1973: COURTESY PHOTO ROYCE WILLIAMS NOW: PHOTO BY BILL ABRAMS ranchandcoast.com 36 FEBRUARY 2026 RANCH & COAST MAGAZINE Official U.S. Navy portrait of Captain Elmer Royce Williams in 1973