{"id":7833,"date":"2026-03-02T11:39:29","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T11:39:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=7833"},"modified":"2026-03-02T11:39:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T11:39:38","slug":"he-waited-nearly-a-lifetime-100-year-old-war-hero-finally-welcomed-into-the-pentagons-hall-of-heroes-at-100-years-old-a-newly-awarded-medal-of-honor-recipient-has-been-fo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=7833","title":{"rendered":"\u201cHe Waited Nearly a Lifetime.\u201d 100-Year-Old War Hero Finally Welcomed Into the Pentagon\u2019s Hall of Heroes At 100 years old, a newly awarded Medal of Honor recipient has been formally inducted into the Pentagon\u2019s Hall of Heroes \u2014 a moment decades in the making. The ceremony, steeped in military tradition, honored a story that had long remained in the shadows. Officials described his wartime actions as \u201cextraordinary under impossible odds,\u201d yet much of what happened that day was classified for years. Only recently did full details emerge, prompting the long-overdue recognition. Attendees say the centenarian stood quietly as citations were read \u2014 history finally catching up with him. Why did it take so long for his heroism to be publicly acknowledged? And what revelation changed everything? \ud83d\udc49 The untold chapter behind his induction is only now coming to light… \ud83d\udc47\ud83d\udc47"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cHe Waited Nearly a Lifetime.\u201d 100-Year-Old War Hero Finally Welcomed Into the Pentagon\u2019s Hall of Heroes<\/h1>\n<\/header>\n
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Navy Capt. E. Royce Williams Received The Medal Of Honor At The State Of The Union The Day Before His Induction Into The Hall Of Heroes<\/h2>\n

\"Civil<\/p>\n

At 100 years old, retired Navy Capt. E. Royce Williams\u2019 service and bravery is still being celebrated.<\/p>\n

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On Tuesday, Feb. 24, Williams received the highest military honor, the Congressional Medal of Honor, while\u00a0attending the State of the Union address.<\/p>\n

There,\u00a0President Donald Trump\u00a0said,\u00a0\u201cRoyce was in the dogfight of a lifetime.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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Expounding upon Williams\u2019 service, Trump stated:<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt was his first aerial combat of the war, and despite being massively outnumbered and outgunned, Royce led the take down of four enemy jets and almost destroyed the others \u2014 vanquishing his adversaries while taking 263 bullets to his own plane and being seriously hurt.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Placing the Medal of Honor upon him was First Lady Melania Trump.<\/p>\n

The next day, on Wednesday, Feb. 25, Williams was honored for his service again, as he was inducted into the Pentagon\u2019s Hall of Heroes.<\/p>\n

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\"Recent<\/p>\n

Watch E. Royce Williams Get Inducted Into The Hall Of Heroes<\/h2>\n

Established in 1968 by the Department of Defense, now the Department of War, the Hall of Heroes is located at the Pentagon and, according to the\u00a0DOW\u2019s website,\u00a0\u201cis a room dedicated for people to honor the brave service members who have received the Medal of Honor, the highest award for bravery that can be awarded to members of America\u2019s armed forces for exceptional acts of valor.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

At the Pentagon on Feb. 25, retired Navy Capt. E. Royce Williams was inducted into the Hall of Heroes.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the moment Williams received the Medal of Honor from Trump the night before during the State of the Union address, Sec. of War Pete Hegseth remarked, \u201cWhat an opportunity to inspire a nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continuing in his remarks, Hegseth said,\u00a0\u201c\u2018Gallantry in action.\u2019 Those are the words that President Lincoln used when he authorized the Medal of Honor.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The Medal of Honor was established 1861 as the nation was deeply divided, brother fighting against brother in the Civil War.<\/p>\n

Detailing Williams\u2019 feat of gallantry during the Korean War on Nov. 18, 1952, Hegseth said,\u00a0\u201cWe know the story of what then Lt. Royce Williams did. One Navy pilot up against seven Soviet MIGs. Thirty-five minutes of combat, with your plane hit by 263 bullets.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Providing personal commentary on Williams\u2019 story, Hegseth expressed at the amount of bullets his plane took,\u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t even know how that\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Continuing, Hegseth said,\u00a0\u201cYou protected sailors on their ship, and you sent for Soviet MIGs to the bottom of the sea in Japan.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Tech.<\/p>\n

Hegseth then declared:<\/p>\n

\u201cRoyce Williams, what you accomplished on that day, Nov. 18, is the living essence of what Abraham Lincoln wished to honor: \u2018gallantry in action.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Joining Hegseth to induct Williams into the Hall of Heroes was Sec. of the Navy John Phelan.<\/p>\n

After being inducted into the Hall of Heroes, Williams took to the podium, speaking with strength and clarity at the age of 100.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t go looking for honors, and I can\u2019t believe the last couple of days, and it\u2019s not even in my imagination,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Williams stated.\u00a0\u201cI [was] just like any other sailor \u2014 and soldier, which I was once \u2014 I set out to be good at whatever I do for my country, and, as events revealed, I had this opportunity to do my best in battle. I did a lot of other events that were insignificant.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Ending his remarks, Williams said,\u00a0\u201cAll I say is, God bless America, and all glory to God.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Watch retired Navy Capt. E. Royce Williams be inducted into the Hall of Heroes, here:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cHe Waited Nearly a Lifetime.\u201d 100-Year-Old War Hero Finally Welcomed Into the Pentagon\u2019s Hall of Heroes Navy Capt. E. Royce Williams Received The Medal Of Honor At… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7835,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7833"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7837,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7833\/revisions\/7837"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}