- A true story of a U.S. Navy fighter pilot who is forced to go against seven heavily armed Soviet MiG-15s secretly supporting the North Koreans in 1952 -- an espionage thriller of two superpowers at the brink of World War III.
- In 1952 while Korean War raged on, a U.S. Navy fighter pilot was forced to go against seven heavily armed Soviet MiG-15s secretly supporting the North Koreans. The Forgotten Hero is an espionage thriller of two superpowers at the brink of World War III.
- December 1952, 8th Army Headquarters, Seoul, Korea. Three young Naval Aviators, along with senior Navy Officers are quietly taken to an informal meeting with President elect DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER. The Korean War has raged on for two years and given the amazing air-to-air victory of ROYCE WILLIAMS, the new President wants to meet him and thank him. Drinks are offered and pleasantries are exchanged, however, President elect Eisenhower wants details from Royce on just how he was able to single-handedly shoot down four of the seven advancing MiG fighters.
The film flashes back to Wilmot, South Dakota, Americana with a booming economy. The "Great War" is over and Model T's are replacing horse carriages. Women can now vote and Babe Ruth is a national icon. The United States is at peace and prospering, with the largest economy in the world. Charles Lindbergh's historic non-stop transatlantic flight inspires every impressionable child across the world.
Four-year-old Royce Williams' infatuation with flight is fueled by GRAMMA FOSS as she takes him flying for the first time in a Ford Trimotor. Royce's destiny is further forged by his father, ELMER boasting of heroic war stories of Eddie Rickenbacker and how he became a Flying Ace. Their mother, ESTHER looks with apprehension at what God has planned for her two sons.
Life of the Williams is like a perfect depiction of a Norman Rockwell painting. Royce and his older brother Lynn practice flying with wood balsa and paper airplanes. They race to the Saturday matinees of "Wings" between chores and work with their father at a mercantile store.
Then the October 1929 BUST happens! The Stock Market crashes and the Great Depression begins. Farmers begin to lose everything as agricultural prices plummet. Economic instability causes nationwide panic, banks begin to close and "Out of Business" signs hang in vendor windows. Americans are in shock, consumed with trepidation.
Elmer loses his job and eventually their home. The Williams family find refuge in Gramma Foss' nearby home and it is sheer fortitude that becomes their greatest asset. Jobs are scarce and they have to sell everything they own - often pennies on the dollar just to keep the family fed. Royce and Lynn's once favorite pastime of hunting and fishing become an essential means of survival. Royce, only a boy, works long hours in the remaining farms to provide for his family. Generations of farmers are left destitute as homesteads are auctioned off from underneath them.
The once booming America continues to spiral down as record high temperature and Dust Storms leave many homes covered in earth. Young Royce witnesses the skies turn black in broad daylight as swarms of locusts engulf the meager existent vegetation and sets in motion his propensity to be a survivor.
Determined to regain stability, Elmer uses his WWI stipend to move his family to Clinton, Minnesota where they take up residence in the back of their mercantile store. They begin to rebuild their life - Royce and Lynn focus on acquiring skills they will soon need for what God has planned for them, what destiny has already determined.
Royce is only eleven when he meets CAMILLA, the woman he will spend the rest of his life with. Bonded in faith and tradition, their hearts become one. Camilla soon finds out she will have to share him with the United States Military as rumors spread of Hitler's rule and invasion of Europe. America's isolationism comes to an abrupt end December 7, 1941 when radios announce Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Once again, the country is shaken at its core, but it is the unity of the American people and their young men that World democracy will prevail.
Distraught mothers are seen hugging their sons as they leave for war uncertain of their return. Royce watches Lynn and many of their friends leave town by train, some returning home only to be buried. Royce, anxious to fight, joins the National Guard at sixteen until he's old enough to engage in the war while Lynn fights in the Pacific as a Marine Aviator. Esther experiences what she has always feared. Now old enough, Royce trains as a Naval Aviator to join his brother. He earns his coveted gold wings as a carrier pilot just as the war ends but his unique skills are destined for a different conflict.
Seven years later aboard the carrier USS Oriskany, Lieutenant Royce Williams returns from a bombing strike on Hoeryong, near the borders of Russia and China. It's a gloomy morning and the temperature is frigid cold, ice covers the deck of the carrier. Royce races below the deck not to get warm but to make his next mission brief. He knows he has a Combat Air Patrol mission to protect the US Naval Fleet on station, off the coast of North Korea. Royce is part of a flight of four F-9 Panthers and after the brief, they launch. No sooner do they rendezvous when they are vectored toward a group of seven Soviet MiGs launched out of Vladivostock, Russia. Although not officially belligerent in the Korean War, The Soviet Union retaliates because of the earlier strike being so close to their border. Two of the four launched US Panthers return due to aircraft malfunctions, leaving only Royce and his wingman to stop the seven MiGs.
The engagement turns into an aerial life or death struggle. Royce finds himself outnumbered and out-gunned, yet he manages to score a victory at the start of the engagement, claiming one MiG. Royce's only wingman follows the MiG down, leaving him in a one verses six dog-fight. The odds are against Royce, but he fights like hell to shake them off his tail while taking deflection shots of opportunity. Splash two! Royce claims another but there are still five to go and Royce is exhausted under all the high G loading. As Royce shoots, so do the MiGs but with bigger cannons. Rounds whiz all around Royce, but he stays alive denying them of their victory. Splash three, then four! Royce continues to dwindle down the threat, but suddenly he spots a MiG on his six, firing away in the perfect position behind him. The rounds rip into his Panther, but Royce is still able to control his aircraft and guide it into the clouds to escape. With flight controls severely damaged, Royce man handles what he has left, fighting to get his way back to the carrier - his only choice. Landing in the freezing water whether in or out of the aircraft is certain death due to hypothermia. Royce's high-speed approach makes a crash landing inevitable until his Commanding Officer turns the ship to help align the carrier. Royce miraculously recovers his battle-damaged aircraft aboard the carrier to the amazement of everyone when they see the F-9 Panther riddled with holes.
Unbeknownst to Royce, the newly created National Security Agency is monitoring the entire mission as they conduct their first documented mission on the USS Helena, off the Sea of Japan. The black ops project comes into play when Royce is read into this highly classified project but ordered to keep everything about the mission secret.
The film ends with Royce using hand motions to explain his aerial dogfight, entertaining President Elect Eisenhower. The intense look of interest and amazement on the President's face confirms Royce's destiny.
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