WEBVTT

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So there I was, commemorating an auspicious occasion today that actually took place yesterday.

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Hey, this is Fig. Welcome to So There I Was. Where's my co-host?

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Well, this is Styx. I'm up here in Whitefield, New Hampshire, on the road today.

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Nice. Hey, it's Baggo. Baggo. I'm at Sherry Point, North Carolina, just getting off work.

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Hi, you work a four-letter word ending in K.

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Greetings, everybody. Repeat here and welcome to episode 200.

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Count them. Two, zero, zero.

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Can you believe it? Double centuries. And wow, what a great,

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great occasion to have show 200 because while we're at 200, we are going to

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be talking about a man today who has hit one century over a third of our nation's lifetime.

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This man has been drawing breath and doing heroic acts.

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And after 73 years of delay, Captain Royce Williams, United States Navy,

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retired, finally got his due.

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Last night at the State of Union address, they pinned it on.

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And then today, it was the official ceremony. They read the citation for his Medal of Honor.

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We're going to play that for you here in just a minute. Outstanding.

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Wow, this is cool. So, Sticks, this is kind of your idea. Why don't you kick

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it off with some of where we wanted to go with this, please?

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Right. Well, you know, so we like to start off a lot of our episodes with, so there I was.

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I'm just going to say, so there he was at 19,000 feet in a 7v1 fight in his

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F9F Panther against seven MiG-15s.

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And then yada, yada, yada, he gets the Medal of Honor. How about that?

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Yeah, Yada Yada, 73 years of Yada's.

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Exactly. You can't, and we, of course, Yada Yada'd out the best part,

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which was the actual fight.

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So I think one of the important things for us to recognize is that the Medal

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of Honor is the highest award that can be given to any of our military service members.

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Quick look on that also finds it's only been awarded 107 times for aviation and aviation type.

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Sorties or events. And, you know, this also puts him in the league with Pappy

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Boynton and also puts him in there with Billy Mitchell, who put your hair down the midway.

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Some of the most distinguished, you know, aviators in history,

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you know, and he's earned it.

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You know, I think his story is absolutely fantastic but

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you know he's uh it's you know this was sort of a brainchild of like let's go

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back and revisit a little bit of his episode talk about his story and bring

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that back to the forefront because it's well deserved for sure yes it is yeah

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yes he was about to turn 99 when we interviewed him on episode 45.

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Just a little while ago yeah on april 4th

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of this year 2026 he's going to be 101 so and

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still lucid as as ever i mean it's

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so cool you know when i went back and re-listened to that episode it

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was amazing his uh recall of certain

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events surrounding that and what i also think

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is important to note is that this interaction that

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he had with these seven migs is considered the you

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know perhaps the greatest and most significant uh you

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know naval aviation event you know

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and it's been buried into the history books and uh buried

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literally buried literally buried yeah you

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know so i think it's really cool that we were able to

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you know to bring this to the forefront especially all

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the way back in episode 34 and then we come back around full

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circle now sitting at episode 200 and he

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just gets awarded the medal of honor i just think it's

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absolutely outstanding yeah quickly it

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was episode 45 episode 45 you're correct

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so there i was at us slash episode slash 45 what

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a blessing it is that he got it

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awarded and it wasn't posthumously because

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my fear was when we talked about this way back

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in episode 45 yeah and we knew

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that it was sitting in it was sitting at the senate level right to be approved.

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That they you know this was not a high priority item for some reason it was

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going to drag on to lord knows when and then the next thing you know somebody's

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typing and it's really loud and it would have been.

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Not a factor anymore he's actually now the oldest recipient ever of the medal of honor,

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that's even more badass that is

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awesome nice what do

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you remember from show 45 bago anything anything stick

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out oh yeah well six started it he mentioned it was 1v7 however

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if we recall it started out as a

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4v7 and that's right we went

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downhill from there yeah but yeah i

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think the most amazing thing of it all from the start of it was that

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he told us he had almost 100

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hours in the seat during his very first ever dogfight 1v7 and then flying an

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underpowered under gunned he was just a way outmatched more airplane the mig-15

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was much more airplane way out right Right.

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And it's actually, and I've even, go ahead, brother. Go ahead.

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No, I've even got a, so let me pull this up real quick.

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So I've got a, like a quick slide here that actually pulls up a comparison between

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the two, but the whole idea of the, of the MiG-15 was to take on the straight

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wing fighters and to take advantage of that.

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And of course, what is, what does he happen to find himself in?

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You know, a total straight wing fighter.

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And, you know, It certainly is more maneuverable, has a better thrust to weight ratio.

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But the one advantage that he had was he had more, there was more firepower.

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He had more guns to work with, more bullets to send down range.

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That was really about his only advantage and sheer determination to see it through.

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So to me, that says a lot.

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And it looked like through the years that the F9F has had a varied or different thrust ratio.

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And on average, it looks like it's been around 0.3 is about the average,

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whereas the MiG-15 was sitting at 0.58.

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Which is a big difference. It's a big difference. And you had to spend every

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single last bullet to make it out of there, too.

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Yeah, I did. Yeah. Yep. And what... Go ahead.

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No, I don't want to interrupt you. No, I was just going to say that in that

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whole conflict, when you go back and you look at it, it lasted 35 minutes.

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Which is... And granted, I have zero dogfight time.

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But from what I understand, that's an eternity.

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It is, in fact, actually the longest dogfight in U.S. naval history.

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Yeah. You know, having never done it for real, but done it in training,

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I don't know, thousands of times, that is a literal eternity.

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You know, if you... 30s last an hour sometimes, you know, in a 35-minute fight.

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I don't know. I think a long engagement for us might have been four or five minutes.

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That was super long. Yeah, that was gone with the win for crying out loud.

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I mean, normally those things are over within a minute and a half or even less.

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In a turning fight, which they were in. He was in a turning fight with these guys.

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That's gone with the win times two, maybe three. It's insane.

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Yeah. Well, why don't we take about a minute and just shy of two minutes here,

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and I will play the citation that they read to honor him.

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And I will send out a thanks to Scotty Southard, go Marine, for sending me the

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link to get a hold of this citation.

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So it's about a minute 45 and the official citation of his Medal of Honor.

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The President of the United States, in the name of Congress,

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takes pleasure in awarding the Medal of Honor to Lieutenant E.

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Royce Williams for service as set forth in the following.

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For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and

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beyond the call of duty on 18 November 1952,

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while leading a division of three jet fighters attached to Fighter Squadron

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781 VF-781 and embarked on USS Ariskany.

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While flying a combat patrol mission over the northeastern coastal waters of

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enemy-held North Korea,

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Lieutenant Williams demonstrated extraordinary heroism by intercepting a superior

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force of attacking enemy MiG-15 fighters in order to protect the ships of Task Force 77.

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After thwarting the enemy's initial attack, he maneuvered his aircraft to make

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two firing passes on one MiG, which then spiraled into the sea.

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He inflicted heavy damage to

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a second MiG-15, which started smoking badly and retired from the fight.

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When his own aircraft was severely damaged by a direct hit from one of the remaining

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enemy MiG-15s, Lieutenant Williams

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evaded further enemy attack while continuing to direct the dogfight.

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He eventually found cover in a cloud bank, broke off the engagement,

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and miraculously landed his nearly uncontrollable aircraft on the USS Oriskany.

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His exceptional airmanship, coupled with his complete disregard for his own personal safety,

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resulted in the destruction of three enemy MiG-15s and severe damage to a fourth,

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and undoubtedly saved the lives of hundreds of Task Force 77 sailors.

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By his undaunted courage, bold initiative, and total devotion to duty,

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Lieutenant Williams reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest

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traditions of the United States Naval Service.

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Boom. And I got to say, that citation, it is badass, but that citation kind of underplays it.

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He talked about the book, Red Devils over the Yalu, and they confirmed kills.

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This dude didn't retire from the fight. He was forcefully retired.

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So correct me if I'm wrong, but it was the intelligence ship track those seven

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MIGs when they launch from the Russian base.

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And can you guys hear me? Okay. Gotcha. Yes. Yep. Yep. All right.

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And then seven launched, but only six came back.

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Yes. I'm sorry. Seven launched, but only one came back.

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Yeah. So, you know, he might have got, you know, he might have got six.

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If he nicked their fuel tank and they ran out of gas before they got back to

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home plate, you know, that's, in my book, that's a kill.

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Yeah, a kill's a kill. We know those three he downed right then and there.

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One ejected, trying to make it back home, and the other two.

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Yeah, and they gave credit to that kill, to the Dash 2 in the fight,

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who went away and came back, which was kind of bad. Chased him.

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Yeah, interesting, right? And again, they talk about getting back aboard,

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but, you know, dude was doing 175 knots over there.

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Well, and they left off the part that when he came out of the bottom of the

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clouds in the middle of the task force, they opened up on him because they thought he was the end.

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They were shooting at him. It was a welcome home party. That's all. Some fireworks for him.

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Fireworks. Welcome to your back.

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Congratulations for making it back to the boat. Now we're going to try and shake it out. Right.

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Dear God, make it stop. And just for our listeners that aren't aware of this

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story, it was February in the North China Sea. I don't remember, but just as cold.

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It was November? Yeah, November 52nd. Yeah, it was cold. It was cold. It was sleeting.

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And the water temperature was such that, yeah, he would not have survived in

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the water had he decided to jump out.

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So he knew the only way forward was to try to get aboard the ship.

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Yeah, you mentioned the intelligence config.

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The team on the USS Helena, which is where they got the intercepted Soviet communications

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from, it was actually the very first unit of the NSA,

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Oh, a little side note there. How about that? Oh, no kidding.

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That looks like a battle ship. They're codenamed, codenamed Canoe was their

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codename while they were there.

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Oh, nice. Just a canoe out in the water.

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Thinking of NSA. I have a little fun. I named my phone NSA surveillance,

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so when people are looking around for Wi-Fi, if I'm near.

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Yep. Look at you. But, yeah, just having some fun at other people's paranoia at expense.

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So, we've got another special treat.

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I managed to have a chat with Captain Williams on Saturday last.

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And he agreed to come on with us, and he's also agreed to come back once he

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got back from Washington, D.C.

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This was the eve of him getting on an airplane and flying to Washington, D.C.

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I did not realize he was going to be a guest at the State of the Union address,

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although the timing worked out. I should have known that.

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Yeah, I had no clue. I'm sure he offered that up in the phone conversation, right? Yeah.

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Exactly. Yeah. So this is just shy of 10 minutes, a quick chat with Captain

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Williams. Let's go ahead and play that.

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First of all, thank you so much for joining us today.

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What I'd like to do first off is say thank you, Captain Williams,

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for giving us a few minutes of your time.

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We're featuring your story this week and our listeners hold you in enormous

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respect from the show you joined us on almost three years ago now.

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Not only for that day in the North Pacific, but for the leader you were across a full career.

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So I'd love to keep this tight and brief as you get ready to fly to Washington, D.C.

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Tomorrow and talk about how the day started, what leadership you live by and

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what you'd like to pass along now.

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So can you take me to the moment that day in 1952, November of 52,

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when you realized this wasn't going to be a quick look and a turn back or that

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wasn't just another sighting of enemy planes passing by, that it was going to be a real fight?

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Can you tell me what you saw or heard or felt that when you realized,

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oh, this is going to be a fight, not a flyby?

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Well, things developed. But I knew there were enemy airplanes high above me

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and going back north, and I assumed to land.

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They broke into two groups and dove out of the contrail level,

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and that was my assumption about to land.

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But I was to turn around and establish a barricade between the last lady and the task force.

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And in that turn, here comes the four that dove off to the right,

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heading right at me at my 10 o'clock position, all shooting.

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Of course, this was a most unexpected surprise.

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I don't know, just intuition or something broke in.

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I had already prepared my airplane to fight with the guns ready,

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and I turned immediately and ended up on the tail end airplane and shot him down.

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Nothing planned. All reaction. Nothing getting me terribly excited or anything.

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I was on automatic, I guess, and calm about the whole thing.

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Nice. So you didn't get nervous until after the fight was over then?

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Or did you get nervous at all?

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Not really. I think a little adrenaline kicked in after I was back on the ship

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and out of fire there, back to my room.

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Sure. Oh, I can only begin to imagine.

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Well, I really can't. I've never been even close to what you faced that day.

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So, your wingman followed the first guy down that you shot.

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The question I forgot to ask the first time when we chatted a few years ago

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was, did he go back and land or did he disappear forever? Was he gone?

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My wingman? Yes, sir. I think he remained in the area, in the clear sky,

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someplace down low around 8,000 feet or something.

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Overall, this action was at 26,000 feet. Right, okay. So you never saw him again for that fight?

00:18:08.182 --> 00:18:16.182
I saw him briefly when I notified him that I was hit, proceeding back and he

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came on up and was behind the,

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MiG that was shooting at me but he never fired a shot.

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I don't think he turned his master armament switch on.

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Frustrating. A little help here would be nice. Oh, man.

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Well, more than that. So you're headed off tomorrow to receive the Medal of Honor.

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And we're so humbled to be even in your presence on the phone here.

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So congratulations on that. I'd like to ask more than about that fight.

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Looking back across your career, what would you say is the one experience that

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most shaped how you led other sailors and Marines over the years.

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And what were your two or three non-negotiables that as a leader,

00:19:01.590 --> 00:19:06.130
your people always knew you'd enforce and hold the, what standards would you hold them to every time?

00:19:07.828 --> 00:19:12.168
Oh, my. What a complicated question. Good story.

00:19:14.248 --> 00:19:18.008
Wow. I don't think I can unscramble all that.

00:19:18.888 --> 00:19:26.028
From my youth, I was patriotic. I wanted to be a naval aviator.

00:19:26.868 --> 00:19:32.228
The closest I worked at it, I just was scouting. I was the Eagle Scout.

00:19:33.228 --> 00:19:41.848
I don't know, a leader, a busy in all the athletics presented in our school, but sort of a leader.

00:19:42.408 --> 00:19:47.608
It just came natural. Okay. Well, maybe let me ask it this way then.

00:19:47.728 --> 00:19:50.928
So you didn't just fly, but you shaped other people around you as a leader.

00:19:51.088 --> 00:19:54.408
So what would you think would be the most important lesson that you would,

00:19:54.588 --> 00:19:58.988
or advice you would give to a young lieutenant today about judgment under pressure

00:19:58.988 --> 00:20:02.228
or how to be aggressive and smart and how to take care of the people around them.

00:20:02.508 --> 00:20:07.088
Do you have any advice for a new lieutenant coming into aviation today?

00:20:08.108 --> 00:20:11.528
I think you're shaped a lot as you grow up.

00:20:11.988 --> 00:20:19.548
I had, I think, high principles. When I went into the Navy, I went in with a

00:20:19.548 --> 00:20:22.508
purpose to do my best to perform.

00:20:23.448 --> 00:20:31.488
I didn't mess around. I stuck to duty and I tried to turn out a good performance.

00:20:31.808 --> 00:20:38.768
Nice. And I think that was probably the best was just demonstrations, leadership.

00:20:39.268 --> 00:20:40.528
So lead by example? Yeah.

00:20:41.586 --> 00:20:47.166
Yeah. Yeah. Who would you say was the most formative person in your life then

00:20:47.166 --> 00:20:51.366
that helped grow that sense in you? Was it your parents or a scout leader or somebody?

00:20:52.386 --> 00:21:00.086
All my parents. Okay. Definitely. My dad was a World War I vet, very principal.

00:21:00.526 --> 00:21:05.446
There was no drinking, heavy partying.

00:21:05.866 --> 00:21:09.166
Church was a major aspect.

00:21:09.886 --> 00:21:16.406
Okay. I did a lot in Sunday school. As such, I even had conversations with some

00:21:16.406 --> 00:21:19.586
of my classmates about religion.

00:21:20.806 --> 00:21:25.766
Okay. Nice. So let me ask briefly then, what did your dad do in World War I?

00:21:27.186 --> 00:21:31.886
He was a machine gunner. Okay. So he was in the thick of it.

00:21:32.786 --> 00:21:37.986
Oh, he was in every battle Americans fought, but he was in the thick of it.

00:21:38.966 --> 00:21:42.746
Well, it's wonderful. Wonderful he came back, and thanks for his service as well.

00:21:42.946 --> 00:21:47.486
I mean, the carnage in that war is just breathtaking and overwhelming.

00:21:48.146 --> 00:21:51.446
Well, let me ask this then. You're heading tomorrow to Washington,

00:21:51.586 --> 00:21:53.066
D.C. to receive the Medal of Honor.

00:21:53.226 --> 00:21:57.446
Can you tell me who it is you'd be thinking about as that's pinned on and what

00:21:57.446 --> 00:22:00.846
you hope this moment says about service to the country?

00:22:01.426 --> 00:22:04.806
Service to the country is independent of the Medal of Honor.

00:22:04.806 --> 00:22:08.666
It just happened rarely in circumstances.

00:22:10.466 --> 00:22:16.066
The country, this country, we all, as individuals, citizens,

00:22:16.486 --> 00:22:24.886
a whole lot. It is the provider, education, opportunity, and safety to that.

00:22:25.426 --> 00:22:29.406
It shouldn't become free. Somebody's got to sacrifice for it,

00:22:29.426 --> 00:22:32.286
and we should be happy for that.

00:22:33.385 --> 00:22:37.565
Oh, indeed. I couldn't say it better myself. It's part of the eternal vigilance

00:22:37.565 --> 00:22:39.625
that I think it was Jefferson spoke about.

00:22:40.045 --> 00:22:42.905
Well, sir, I don't want to take any more of your time. We definitely want to

00:22:42.905 --> 00:22:45.245
invite you back after you get back from Washington, D.C.

00:22:45.365 --> 00:22:48.665
And talk more just about aviation, about flying and fighting,

00:22:48.725 --> 00:22:50.925
because we know you fought both in Korea and Vietnam.

00:22:51.305 --> 00:22:55.045
And we'd love to hear more about all of that. So I'd just like to close by saying.

00:22:55.865 --> 00:23:01.605
In World War II, I didn't get in combat, but I was in about as long as anybody.

00:23:01.605 --> 00:23:06.345
But I went in at the very beginning, I think, February of 42.

00:23:07.085 --> 00:23:11.245
Okay. Right. Right. You enlisted in the Army, as I recall, then.

00:23:12.205 --> 00:23:16.365
Yes. Yeah, I started in the Army. Right. Oh, fantastic.

00:23:16.705 --> 00:23:19.445
Indeed, that's true. You're a World War II vet as well. So, wow.

00:23:19.785 --> 00:23:23.305
Humble. And I think, I believe, you're our only World War II vet ever on the

00:23:23.305 --> 00:23:26.445
show. We've had a couple of Korean War vets and several Vietnam War vets.

00:23:26.585 --> 00:23:30.365
So, thank you. Yeah, because, if I may mention, you're a couple months away

00:23:30.365 --> 00:23:31.525
from your 101st birthday.

00:23:32.245 --> 00:23:35.265
That's true. For April. Wow.

00:23:36.865 --> 00:23:42.505
Well, congratulations on that. And, Captain, congratulations on this long, long overdue honor.

00:23:42.985 --> 00:23:46.665
Thank you for what you did and for the example of leadership and character that

00:23:46.665 --> 00:23:52.065
you've set for generations. If people only have the wisdom to look to you for

00:23:52.065 --> 00:23:53.845
the example, this country will continue

00:23:53.845 --> 00:23:57.245
to be a better place and a shining example for the world to follow.

00:23:57.605 --> 00:24:01.685
Thank you. Well, I hope that's true. I appreciate your saying so,

00:24:02.661 --> 00:24:07.061
I cannot convey to you how much we are humbled just by your mere presence over

00:24:07.061 --> 00:24:08.441
the airwaves to chat with us.

00:24:08.781 --> 00:24:14.841
What a privilege it was to chat with that gent. An Eagle Scout, no less. Of course.

00:24:15.401 --> 00:24:19.201
Right? Yeah. How could he not be? Yeah. Wow.

00:24:20.721 --> 00:24:26.401
You know, what's interesting, and I also sort of throw back to Chemo on something

00:24:26.401 --> 00:24:31.721
that he had talked about where he had referenced, you know, Richter von,

00:24:32.001 --> 00:24:33.161
I'm trying to remember his,

00:24:33.781 --> 00:24:39.401
anyways, the, you know, the quote about, it's not the, the quality of the box

00:24:39.401 --> 00:24:40.941
matters little. Von Richthofen.

00:24:41.381 --> 00:24:45.541
Yes, Manfred von Richthofen, there we go. Quality of the box matters little,

00:24:45.761 --> 00:24:48.401
success depends upon the man who sits in it.

00:24:48.401 --> 00:24:54.641
And, you know, I think nothing could be more reflective of that and proving

00:24:54.641 --> 00:24:56.981
of that than than this whole event right here.

00:24:57.181 --> 00:25:01.841
I mean, he was outgunned, outmanned and could have been outmaneuvered.

00:25:01.961 --> 00:25:07.501
But I think through perseverance and diligence, you know, came through on the other side.

00:25:11.541 --> 00:25:16.101
And that was his second sortie of the day, if you recall. Yeah, that was.

00:25:16.421 --> 00:25:20.821
The other day, he went north and bombed bridges on the Yalu River.

00:25:21.381 --> 00:25:26.921
That's why the task force was so far north. That's why the Soviets came to get them.

00:25:29.299 --> 00:25:35.039
I think you're right. Yep. Now, something I noticed about that picture or,

00:25:35.039 --> 00:25:39.939
you know, the footage of him actually, you know, when they were putting it on

00:25:39.939 --> 00:25:42.319
him at the ceremony last night. Two sets of wings.

00:25:42.599 --> 00:25:48.599
He had NFO wings at the bottom. Yeah. And I don't know from his history when

00:25:48.599 --> 00:25:51.259
that took place. Do you guys recall?

00:25:51.599 --> 00:25:59.059
So clearly he was a pilot first because in the earlier shots you see only the aviator wings,

00:25:59.059 --> 00:26:05.239
but he does have nfo wings i can only assume it was at a later time that he

00:26:05.239 --> 00:26:09.199
picked up that call somehow during you know one of his command tours or something

00:26:09.199 --> 00:26:10.979
because remember he was an instructor at,

00:26:11.539 --> 00:26:17.519
air force fighter weapons yeah yeah among other things so you know i've never

00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:20.979
seen any i've seen it go the other way i've seen someone be an nfo first and

00:26:20.979 --> 00:26:22.939
then go right aviator right.

00:26:24.771 --> 00:26:29.511
Well, you know what sticks out to me the most about that initial interview we had with him?

00:26:29.671 --> 00:26:33.231
I can't believe it was almost three years ago, but yeah, almost three years ago it was.

00:26:34.191 --> 00:26:43.331
How after we talked about the dogfight in Korea, how he just nonchalantly later

00:26:43.331 --> 00:26:46.651
talked about the F-4 on fire story.

00:26:47.591 --> 00:26:50.591
And actually bringing the airplane back with

00:26:50.591 --> 00:26:53.991
both engines on fire after the nfo his

00:26:53.991 --> 00:27:01.631
rio backseater ejected and they had a completely intact f4 now and it figured

00:27:01.631 --> 00:27:07.711
out why they were losing f4s yeah i mean at one point he said he was in burner

00:27:07.711 --> 00:27:10.911
to keep the thing flying and he brought it back,

00:27:11.651 --> 00:27:20.051
what and that was he talked he talked like that like it was a Tuesday he called it interesting exactly,

00:27:20.611 --> 00:27:28.151
yeah it was a little event you know never mind his backseater bailed out and

00:27:28.151 --> 00:27:30.491
he was on fire when he came back yeah.

00:27:32.216 --> 00:27:34.976
And then his favorite airplane, he had two.

00:27:35.936 --> 00:27:43.136
Yeah. Yeah. It was the Phantom for fighting and the A4 for fun. For fun. Wow.

00:27:44.636 --> 00:27:49.776
My rifle's for fighting. My gun is for fun. Oh. What a man. I meant to. And so.

00:27:51.416 --> 00:27:54.456
He's our second. So we've had two World War II.

00:27:54.896 --> 00:28:00.576
That's right. Rosie. Rosie. Rosie, the. Our nose gunner. Our nose gunner. Yeah.

00:28:01.096 --> 00:28:05.456
And I didn't realize this from the first interview, that he was a World War

00:28:05.456 --> 00:28:08.676
II veteran. I did not remember that until today.

00:28:10.596 --> 00:28:14.496
I heard it, and I had forgotten it, because he had enlisted in the Army,

00:28:14.796 --> 00:28:19.056
in the Army Air Corps and all that, but he wanted to go into the NAVCAD program,

00:28:19.136 --> 00:28:21.476
and that's how he got Navy.

00:28:21.896 --> 00:28:26.236
Yeah, I'll tell you what, those World War II vets, they really earned the moniker,

00:28:26.456 --> 00:28:31.996
the Greatest Generation. Do you remember episode 95 with Rosie,

00:28:32.616 --> 00:28:33.976
what the title of that show was?

00:28:38.022 --> 00:28:41.462
I could hear the shrapnel hitting the sides of the plane yeah yep that's right

00:28:41.462 --> 00:28:46.762
that is freaking insane because i think the question was did did you hear the

00:28:46.762 --> 00:28:50.562
flack could you hear the flat no but i could hear the shrapnel hit.

00:28:53.582 --> 00:28:58.742
But he at least had plenty of plexiglass between him and the oh yeah liquid

00:28:58.742 --> 00:29:05.382
hot metal that was in this much in this much aluminum right right Probably an

00:29:05.382 --> 00:29:06.862
eighth of an inch of aluminum. Yeah.

00:29:07.842 --> 00:29:11.502
Oh, man. Crazy stuff. These men. These men.

00:29:11.862 --> 00:29:16.042
Just living American history. That's who those gentlemen are at this point.

00:29:16.702 --> 00:29:23.922
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00:32:06.495 --> 00:32:10.755
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00:32:15.255 --> 00:32:21.935
Well, I, wow. I'm so grateful that the man received this honor.

00:32:22.095 --> 00:32:25.315
Yeah. Long time coming. Humeless, humously.

00:32:27.735 --> 00:32:33.935
Yeah. I think it's so much more poignant, you know, given that he's here to

00:32:33.935 --> 00:32:36.515
be able to speak to it and appreciate it.

00:32:36.775 --> 00:32:42.375
And the fact that, you know, he's so, honestly, he is so humble about it.

00:32:42.895 --> 00:32:47.315
You know, and it's and I think any any time you've ever talked to anybody who's

00:32:47.315 --> 00:32:51.795
been awarded the Medal of Honor, you know, that is a common thread that that

00:32:51.795 --> 00:32:53.075
runs through all of them.

00:32:53.255 --> 00:32:56.775
You know, it's not about them and they don't even want to accept it half the time.

00:32:56.935 --> 00:33:01.055
They, you know, they almost say, well, I'll accept it, but I'm accepting it

00:33:01.055 --> 00:33:05.155
on behalf of everybody who was part of that. And that's spot on.

00:33:05.395 --> 00:33:10.835
And I think he's you know, he embodies that, you know, it's never mind the fact

00:33:10.835 --> 00:33:12.635
that it's just an astounding accomplishment.

00:33:12.735 --> 00:33:17.815
Of a aviation and and granted i've never been in a dog fight but to you know

00:33:17.815 --> 00:33:23.095
do all these as a face shot i think is also mind-boggling you know especially

00:33:23.095 --> 00:33:28.315
since it was lead it wasn't even like like a sparrow missile yeah that's the

00:33:28.315 --> 00:33:29.975
first rule you always shoot head-to-head right,

00:33:31.175 --> 00:33:38.415
no yeah go with that yeah and that yeah that's something that's saying something,

00:33:39.215 --> 00:33:44.235
you know and only 100 hours in the aircraft on top of that i mean how do you

00:33:44.235 --> 00:33:50.755
first you quantify that type of uh caliber of aviator you know first his first dogfight.

00:33:52.976 --> 00:33:55.796
So and that he's lucid enough

00:33:55.796 --> 00:34:00.236
to appreciate it too that's the other thing not only is he still alive but he's

00:34:00.236 --> 00:34:05.956
lucid he understands what it means oh my gosh you know the dude is sharp he's

00:34:05.956 --> 00:34:10.376
still sharp i'm looking forward to having him back just to chat airplanes yeah

00:34:10.376 --> 00:34:13.816
yeah i mean we got his like essentially his whole career left to go,

00:34:15.544 --> 00:34:21.624
right yeah we just covered the first there might be a story or two that we missed.

00:34:24.364 --> 00:34:27.404
Yeah well how it just just

00:34:27.404 --> 00:34:30.124
the f4 on fire story just kind of came

00:34:30.124 --> 00:34:32.904
out it was like i think that just popped into a said how many

00:34:32.904 --> 00:34:36.124
more are still in there that's what i want right we got to get those out yep

00:34:36.124 --> 00:34:39.264
yep but the other thing that i'll throw out there in

00:34:39.264 --> 00:34:42.384
and this will be just as a as a salute

00:34:42.384 --> 00:34:45.084
to you and to repeat and fig who started this whole

00:34:45.084 --> 00:34:48.424
thing you know but we've managed and

00:34:48.424 --> 00:34:51.544
you guys have managed to to document record and bring

00:34:51.544 --> 00:34:54.464
to the forefront some amazing stories of naval

00:34:54.464 --> 00:34:57.504
aviation and aviation in general and so

00:34:57.504 --> 00:35:01.064
i know you know somebody who's been a listener and now

00:35:01.064 --> 00:35:04.344
part of the team i appreciate it and and the

00:35:04.344 --> 00:35:07.464
fact that we've been able to bring this story feature

00:35:07.464 --> 00:35:13.044
it even had it before you know get recognized as a as a medal of honor story

00:35:13.044 --> 00:35:18.244
or story you know worthy of that i i think says a lot and so my my hat goes

00:35:18.244 --> 00:35:26.444
off to both you you two knuckleheads for for pulling this off 200 200 episodes of fantastic stories.

00:35:27.884 --> 00:35:31.264
Appreciate it yes well and you

00:35:31.264 --> 00:35:34.384
know we're a team gents and bingo you know

00:35:34.384 --> 00:35:37.124
you you guys you guys have made this

00:35:37.124 --> 00:35:40.824
so easy and uh you know repeat you guys

00:35:40.824 --> 00:35:46.484
you are the you know i i show up and just dock yeah but you got the gift of

00:35:46.484 --> 00:35:49.424
gab so we'll we'll give you that you know and there's you're all the king of

00:35:49.424 --> 00:35:55.404
colisans so we'll slide yeah end of that yeah so we got to change that We got

00:35:55.404 --> 00:35:57.144
to get you working behind the scenes, Vic.

00:35:57.624 --> 00:36:02.324
Speaking of behind the scenes, though, I have reached out to one person who

00:36:02.324 --> 00:36:09.584
knows people who know him, but if anybody listening happens to know, CWO5, Eric Slover.

00:36:10.656 --> 00:36:16.696
He was also awarded the Blue Max last night, and we would love to have a chat with that gent.

00:36:16.856 --> 00:36:23.056
If he would be honored to join us, we would be humbly honored to have him join us.

00:36:23.176 --> 00:36:27.476
And one other thing I will throw out, so like I said, I think we're going to

00:36:27.476 --> 00:36:31.776
work on trying to get Captain Williams back on board for one more episode at least.

00:36:31.776 --> 00:36:37.536
But if anybody wanted to then record on their own a brief message for him,

00:36:37.816 --> 00:36:41.376
we'll be more than willing to, if you can make it as good a quality as possible,

00:36:41.376 --> 00:36:45.396
we can record that and include it in that podcast.

00:36:45.676 --> 00:36:48.956
That'd be a great idea, just if nothing else, to send to him.

00:36:49.276 --> 00:36:52.796
So that'd be a lot of fun. Yeah, absolutely. So if anybody wants to pass that

00:36:52.796 --> 00:36:55.216
along to us, we're more than happy to share that with him.

00:36:55.476 --> 00:36:59.316
And it's something that I think is well-earned. I think it'd be great if we

00:36:59.316 --> 00:37:07.676
could get, you know, heater and nasty and maybe even mooch to sort of pass along, you know, a message.

00:37:08.656 --> 00:37:11.856
I know what you're saying. Let's don't try and obligate them. Yeah, no.

00:37:12.096 --> 00:37:16.896
Okay. You know, but something to that effect, you know, I think it'd be great.

00:37:16.896 --> 00:37:19.696
We'll reach out to some folks and see what we can come up with. But, yeah. Yeah.

00:37:20.236 --> 00:37:22.756
I don't know. I think it's probably time we land the airplane unless any of

00:37:22.756 --> 00:37:25.176
you guys got any other things that need to cover before. Yeah.

00:37:25.416 --> 00:37:28.376
I got a couple more fun facts for you guys. oh yeah

00:37:28.376 --> 00:37:32.476
please send him so he's

00:37:32.476 --> 00:37:39.876
the only american to have four kills in a single jet-based dogfight only one

00:37:39.876 --> 00:37:46.936
city war and then that his dogfight was actually somehow surprisingly the only

00:37:46.936 --> 00:37:51.036
naval dogfight over water during the korean war.

00:37:53.633 --> 00:38:01.113
How about that? I don't know how. And then he also had 263 holes were found

00:38:01.113 --> 00:38:07.713
in his aircraft with a one-foot gash, which is that one there.

00:38:09.113 --> 00:38:15.613
Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Well, so the MiG was armed with a cannon as well that was

00:38:15.613 --> 00:38:22.873
on a 33-34 millimeter cannon that I'm sure he unfortunately probably took a round or two from.

00:38:23.633 --> 00:38:27.593
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, he was flying back with no hydraulics, no electronics.

00:38:28.193 --> 00:38:32.213
And not only that, well, actually, there were two cannons on each aircraft,

00:38:32.213 --> 00:38:35.713
so that's 14 cannons he was up against. Yep.

00:38:36.353 --> 00:38:40.073
When he had it all up. And they were throwing lead. They were throwing a lot of lead at him.

00:38:40.593 --> 00:38:45.373
Yeah. And he came out unscathed, body-wise.

00:38:47.333 --> 00:38:53.193
Yeah, physiologically. Literally, he walked away from it unscathed, unscarred, uncut.

00:38:53.953 --> 00:38:58.593
And then to put the plane back on the deck of the carrier with no hydraulics.

00:38:59.253 --> 00:39:02.333
And he called it a three-wire. It wasn't even a three-wire.

00:39:03.253 --> 00:39:05.333
He had an okay underlying three-wire. Yeah.

00:39:06.353 --> 00:39:09.233
Why would he? Yeah, right.

00:39:10.193 --> 00:39:14.353
There you go. I hate to see the LSO who had the stones not to give him an okay

00:39:14.353 --> 00:39:16.313
three-wire for that. All right.

00:39:16.953 --> 00:39:23.213
Wow. Well, we owe a deep debt of gratitude to Captain Williams,

00:39:23.693 --> 00:39:28.553
Eric Slover, and all who have served and sacrificed and put others above self.

00:39:28.773 --> 00:39:36.093
So thank you to all our active duty, our veterans, first responders, and their families.

00:39:36.933 --> 00:39:39.133
We're deeply in debt to them.

00:39:42.840 --> 00:39:47.740
Anyone else? How about a big thanks to Backbeat Media. Right.

00:39:48.820 --> 00:39:52.920
Yeah. Dave Hamilton. Dave Hamilton, right?

00:39:53.920 --> 00:39:58.660
Give us the bandwidth to do this. The bandwidth, the know-how, and the support.

00:39:59.940 --> 00:40:03.380
Big shout-out to Dave Hamilton and Backbeat Media. Absolutely.

00:40:03.900 --> 00:40:09.480
And, of course, our sponsor, Derek, over at DCArtWorks.net. But he isn't the

00:40:09.480 --> 00:40:12.100
only one who gives us support.

00:40:13.940 --> 00:40:17.940
Several of you do who are listening. Don't tell your financial advisors that

00:40:17.940 --> 00:40:21.480
you're cracking your wallet open and sending your hard-earned cash our way.

00:40:21.640 --> 00:40:25.720
They're going to be, uh, they're going to be upset about that.

00:40:25.920 --> 00:40:28.220
I don't know why it won't stay up. There it goes.

00:40:29.100 --> 00:40:33.060
Cause we're working against each other. Yeah. So I keep trying to put it up,

00:40:33.060 --> 00:40:36.980
but yeah. So thanks to all the folks over at there. I was that us slash Patreon.

00:40:38.160 --> 00:40:42.160
And there's also, if you go to, so there I was that us slash donate.

00:40:43.020 --> 00:40:47.640
You can directly donate to us through DonorBox.

00:40:47.880 --> 00:40:52.020
And if you're giving multiple times over a course of months or years,

00:40:52.200 --> 00:40:54.160
then we are deeply humbled by that.

00:40:54.360 --> 00:40:58.760
And that works well. But there's also Venmo. So Venmo doesn't do a recurring

00:40:58.760 --> 00:41:02.180
donation that we're aware of, but they do give us a larger cut.

00:41:02.360 --> 00:41:06.540
They take much less of your money for themselves when you're trying to support us.

00:41:06.640 --> 00:41:13.220
So if you go to sodarowas.us slash donate, we'll have Venmo also available as an option. for you.

00:41:14.879 --> 00:41:19.679
Any other favors anyone could do for us? We need a five-star rating.

00:41:20.199 --> 00:41:25.259
And if you can't give us a five-star, then let us know. We're trainable.

00:41:26.759 --> 00:41:31.399
We'll make additions, edits, corrections, but we'll get it to five stars.

00:41:31.659 --> 00:41:34.539
Give that less than five-star rating to somebody else's podcast,

00:41:34.679 --> 00:41:37.639
for crying out loud. And then come tell us what we can do to fix it.

00:41:38.019 --> 00:41:42.419
Yeah. Like Stick says, we're trainable. We're trainable. We also got to give

00:41:42.419 --> 00:41:48.139
Brad Silcott, BDS Aviation Photography, a huge shout-out. Badass.

00:41:48.599 --> 00:41:53.239
Thank you, badass. Is it giving us some killer shots, or in the Soviets' case,

00:41:53.419 --> 00:41:56.439
not-so-killer shots, of some MiG-15s? Yeah.

00:41:58.423 --> 00:42:01.263
It was Royce gave the killer shots this week's show.

00:42:03.063 --> 00:42:05.983
Good dad joke. Yes, sir.

00:42:07.183 --> 00:42:10.843
Hey, and, you know, we'd normally say thanks to Sticks and Bago for being in

00:42:10.843 --> 00:42:13.483
the background, but they're out front today, so thank you, gentlemen.

00:42:14.943 --> 00:42:20.983
Yeah, we're dug ourselves out of the trenches tonight. Anything for Captain Royce Williams.

00:42:22.383 --> 00:42:26.903
Oh, yeah. Yes, sir. Oh, and then we got a merch store.

00:42:27.823 --> 00:42:35.243
Oh, so I'm happen to be down in Florida where it's beginning to be bikini season.

00:42:35.243 --> 00:42:40.263
As you can see, if you're watching live, there's at least six of you out there.

00:42:40.523 --> 00:42:43.703
We do have a so there I was bikini right now.

00:42:44.523 --> 00:42:46.623
So there I was merch.

00:42:47.603 --> 00:42:50.723
Yeah, I think you are code in a very conspicuous location.

00:42:53.603 --> 00:42:56.263
On time, on target. Yeah, right. Yeah.

00:42:57.323 --> 00:43:01.543
And then lastly, I'm hearing some noise in the background.

00:43:02.503 --> 00:43:10.103
Yes, sir. I think that is the wonderful beat of the two Air Force F-16 pilots

00:43:10.103 --> 00:43:14.283
that make the Air Force sound good. The Dos Gringos.

00:43:15.063 --> 00:43:21.623
They do indeed. They let us use their music. They are magnificent artists.

00:43:22.343 --> 00:43:27.603
From what I understand, they weren't half bad F-16 pilots, and they were true patriots.

00:43:27.743 --> 00:43:30.643
We had them on the show twice. They're just awesome.

00:43:30.923 --> 00:43:33.043
And their music is fantastic. If you're having a bad day.

00:43:34.684 --> 00:43:40.184
Oh, yes, and they distill spirits. Winglor spirits, W-I-N-G-L-O-R-E.

00:43:41.304 --> 00:43:47.544
Good stuff. I had it over chemos. I can say it is outstanding.

00:43:48.404 --> 00:43:50.464
Primo stuff. Yes, sir.

00:43:52.104 --> 00:43:55.784
A chemo may or may not be an investor, and I'm not saying it because he's that.

00:43:55.884 --> 00:43:57.444
I said it because it is very fine.

00:43:57.564 --> 00:44:00.384
It is worth a try. Bingo.

00:44:01.104 --> 00:44:04.564
Bingo. All right. Don't get your bottle to bingo.

00:44:05.564 --> 00:44:09.764
Go get some more. Alright, time for us to beat on out of here.

00:44:10.164 --> 00:44:15.004
Until next week everybody, thanks for joining us. Stay safe and check six.

00:44:50.342 --> 00:44:57.222
Hold on. Beggar, what did he say? He said it's over. Now I have to face stupid reality again.

00:44:59.002 --> 00:45:00.662
And we're out.

