Trump Awards 3 Medals of Honor to Vietnam and Afghanistan Heroes

Q: What forgotten details of a Vietnam ambush finally earned a hero the Medal of Honor?

The decisive details were that James Capers Jr., already badly wounded in a 1967 ambush at Phu Loc, kept commanding his nine-man Marine reconnaissance team through four days of fighting, called in air, artillery and mortar fire almost on top of his own position, and repeatedly put his men’s survival ahead of his own. Accounts of the battle show Capers suffered multiple gunshot and shrapnel wounds, a broken leg and a torn abdomen, yet refused evacuation and continued directing the defense against a larger enemy force. Every Marine under his command was wounded, and their military working dog, King, was killed. Capers then led the team to an extraction zone. The details that stood out most in the later push for the Medal of Honor were his self-sacrifice during the helicopter evacuation. He refused to board unless King’s body was taken too. When the overloaded helicopter struggled to lift off, Capers twice tried to get out to reduce weight so his wounded Marines could escape, and another serviceman had to pull him back in. Those actions had long been cited by fellow Marines and officers, who believed at the time that his valor merited the nation’s highest award. But the Medal of Honor was never granted within the normal five-year window. After years of advocacy, Congress passed legislation waiving that deadline, allowing President Donald Trump to sign the measure and clear the way for Capers, now 88, to finally receive the Medal of Honor nearly six decades later.

3 articles · Updated · The White House · Jun 18

Three service members — retired Marine Maj. James Capers Jr., retired Army Maj. Nicholas Dockery and Marine Col. John W. Ripley posthumously — are set to receive the Medal of Honor from President Donald Trump on Thursday.
Capers is being recognized for a four-day 1967 Vietnam patrol in which he kept leading after severe wounds, directed fire on an enemy base camp and refused evacuation until his team was extracted.
Ripley earned the award for a 1972 Vietnam action in Dong Ha, where he spent 3 hours placing 500 pounds of explosives under a bridge and destroyed it to halt a North Vietnamese assault.
Dockery is being honored for a 4-hour 2012 battle in Afghanistan, where he protected and evacuated 3 wounded soldiers and directed aircraft from an exposed rooftop during Taliban counterattacks.
The Medal of Honor is the U.S. military's highest decoration for conspicuous gallantry above and beyond the call of duty in combat or qualifying conflict operations.