A newly proposed piece of legislation could finally open the door for long-overdue recognition of acts of extraordinary bravery — even those buried under decades of classified history.

The Valor Has No Expiration Act, introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), seeks to lift the current five-year time restriction on Medal of Honor eligibility.

Under current law, service members must be nominated for the nation's highest military honor within five years of the act of valor, barring rare exceptions.

Issa’s bill would eliminate that limitation and broaden the scope for consideration, allowing heroes whose stories were hidden or classified for decades to be recognized at last.

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“Valor never expires,” Issa stated in a recent press release.

“Neither should the opportunity for our bravest heroes to be recognized with our highest honor. There is no reason why those who went above and beyond are ineligible for the Medal of Honor due to an arbitrary time standard, when their true account may not be known or was kept classified for decades.”

The legislation builds on a precedent set by the 1996 National Defense Authorization Act, which waived the five-year time limit — but only in specific circumstances.

That law applied solely to acts performed between 1940 and 1990, and only in the context of classified intelligence activities.

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The Valor Has No Expiration Act would go further, scrapping that narrow window entirely and allowing for consideration of any act of heroism that was previously withheld from public knowledge for security or other reasons.

A key inspiration for the bill is Issa’s longtime friend and constituent, retired Navy Capt. Royce Williams — a name few Americans know but one that may soon be etched into the history books where it belongs.

In 1952, during the Korean War, then-Lt. Williams found himself in a near-impossible aerial battle.

Piloting an F9F-5 Panther, Williams and two other members of Fighter Squadron 781 were on patrol when they encountered seven Soviet-made MiG-15 fighters — aircraft widely considered to be superior in both speed and agility. Williams’ wingmen turned back, leaving him to face the entire formation alone.

“In the moment I was a fighter pilot doing my job … I was only shooting what I had,”

Williams recalled in an earlier recounting of the mission. “They had me cold on maneuverability and acceleration. … The only thing I could do was out-turn them.”

What followed was a 35-minute dogfight, the longest in U.S. military history, in which Williams shot down four MiG-15s.

According to the U.S. Naval Institute, no other American pilot has ever accomplished such a feat in a single engagement.

Yet for over 50 years, the details of that battle were kept classified, primarily to avoid escalating tensions with the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Because of that classification, Williams was never considered for the Medal of Honor. While he did receive the Silver Star, many believe that recognition fell short of the magnitude of his actions.

“Capt. Royce Williams — now 100 years young — is an American hero of the highest order. Every American should know his story and what he did on that day nearly 73 years ago should go unrecognized no longer,” Issa said.

“With this reform legislation, America’s heroes — whether undiscovered, unknown, or unrevealed — can be honored as they should. Acts of valor have no expiration date.”

Supporters of the bill argue that limiting recognition to a narrow timeframe undermines the very values the Medal of Honor is meant to uphold.

Whether delayed by bureaucracy, secrecy, or political sensitivity, countless acts of valor have slipped through the cracks.

This legislation could provide long-overdue justice — not only for Williams, but for many others whose courage went unnoticed by history.

If passed, the Valor Has No Expiration Act would mark a significant step in righting those historical oversights.

As Issa and others push for bipartisan support, the measure may finally bring long-overdue recognition to forgotten heroes whose bravery knew no limits — and now, perhaps, neither will the clock.

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