Medal of Honor Winner Royce Williams,101, To Soar Above Pensacola Beach in Veterans Flight Stearman
Retired Navy Captain Royce Williams recently received the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions on 18 November 1952. He will be a passenger in the iconic yellow Stearman bi-planes Veterans Flight Pensacola that fly during the Pensacola Beach Air Show, July 17-18. While most of the Veterans Flight passes will be before 10:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, Williams’ will flyover at 1:26 on Saturday, July 18 per the Air Boss Paul Entrekin.
Veterans Flight Pensacola Founder Roy Kinsey said, “Veterans Flight has had the honor of flying Captain Williams several times and, after Royce celebrated his 100th birthday in April 2025, Veterans Flight recognized him as Lima Bravo #12.”
Veterans Flight honoree passengers, who have reached 100 years old, are designated as Lima Bravo. There are five currently scheduled to fly with the Veterans Flight this year.
Margie Stone, LB #9 – Margie was a Navy aircraft mechanic.
Cash Barber, LB #10 – US Navy
Royce Williams, LB #12 – US Navy
Thomas Palmer, LB #13 – US Navy
Bob Hasewinkle – World War II Army veteran who celebrated his 100th birthday 31 December 2025. He is not yet a Lima Bravo as he has not flown. He is scheduled to fly Saturday, 18 July, and will earn Lima Bravo status as soon as the airplane in which flies lifts off.
Veterans Flight was founded by Kinsey in 2014 to honor and thank the few remaining World War II veterans. Not knowing if they could find enough veterans, Kinsey only planned to fly the one mission. The veteran came. They filled the seats in 2015 which was thought to be The Final Mission. With the exception of the pandemic year, the Veterans Flight has been honoring WWII and Korean War veterans, annually with flyovers at the Pensacola Beach Air Show.
Preparation, travel, and commitment of resources are coordinated year round for the two days of flight. The effort is great, but worth it according to the organizers. Kinsey wrote, “We, again, honor the veterans whose sacrifices made it possible for us to live in this great country.”