Elmer Royce Williams was born April 4, 1925 in Wilmot, South Dakota. He joined the United States Navy in 1941 following the attack on Pearl Harbor. In 1945, he became a naval aviator and served in the Korean War and Vietnam War. During the Korean War, Williams encountered seven Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 aircraft flown by Soviet Union pilots while on combat air patrol in a Grumman F9F Panther. They engaged in a seven-on-one aerial combat that lasted 35 minutes, the longest aerial combat in United States Navy history. Williams was able to shoot down four of the seven enemy aircraft before running out of ammunition. He returned to his aircraft carrier unharmed, although his aircraft was unsalvageable. Since the Soviet Union was not an official combatant in the war at the time of the aerial combat, the United States Navy and National Security Agency sealed all records of the incident to avoid further conflict between the two nations. In 2002, the records were declassified and Williams, who left the Navy in 1980 as a captain, was allowed to speak publicly about the incident for the first time. In 2023, he received the Navy Cross, the second-highest United States Navy award.
Inducted in 2023.
Portrait Location: Hall of Fame Hallway

Induction Video