President Donald Trump awarded the Medal of Honor to three veterans on June 18, 2026, in a White House ceremony recognizing extraordinary heroism in Vietnam and Afghanistan.
The recipients were retired Marine Corps Maj. James Capers Jr., posthumously Marine Col. John W. Ripley, and retired Army Maj. Nicholas Dockery.
Trump presented the nation’s highest military decoration to Capers, 88, a pioneering Black Marine officer, for his leadership during a four-day reconnaissance patrol near Phu Loc, Vietnam, from March 31 to April 3, 1967.
Capers, then a second lieutenant leading a nine-man Force Reconnaissance team known as “Team Broadminded,” repeatedly engaged a larger North Vietnamese force. On the final day, the patrol was ambushed. Capers sustained severe wounds, including shrapnel injuries and gunshot wounds that broke his legs, but continued directing fire support, coordinating movements, and ensuring the evacuation of every man under his command before allowing himself to be extracted.
“This is the greatest country in the world. I fought for that flag—I believe in it,” Capers said after receiving the medal.
Background and Path to Recognition
Capers, a South Carolina native and one of the first Black Marines to receive a battlefield commission, served 22 years in the Corps. He participated in dozens of long-range reconnaissance patrols in Vietnam. His actions in 1967 were initially recognized with a Silver Star; legislation waiving time limits, signed by Trump earlier in 2026, enabled the upgrade to the Medal of Honor.
Ripley received the award posthumously for his actions in 1972, when he single-handedly destroyed a critical bridge to halt a massive North Vietnamese advance.
Dockery was honored for gallantry in Afghanistan in 2012, where he led his platoon against overwhelming Taliban forces.
On June 19, Capers and Ripley were inducted into the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes.
