President Trump awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor to three war heroes who fought in Vietnam and the War on Terrorism, at one point helping 88-year-old Major James Capers, Jr., a Marine veteran, walk up on stage to receive the highest military decoration.
Capers led his nine-man team on a four-day reconnaissance patrol of the North Vietnamese, where they were brutally ambushed.
The Marine veteran suffered 17 shrapnel wounds and was shot twice, but led every member of his team out alive. When a helicopter struggled to take off because the load was too much, he attempted to get off to ensure his team would survive. They pulled him back on.
“I hope this isn’t giving you some bad memories, Jim, but I’ll tell you, everybody admires what you went through, believe me,” Trump said of Capers’ heroism.
Trump recounted how Capers had been recommended for the Medal of Honor in 1967, but his commanding officer was “tragically killed before the paperwork was signed.”
“That’s a bad break, but now you’re doing it,” Trump said. “The nation kept you waiting far too long. So I say to you, congratulations.”
Next, the president posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor to late Colonel John Ripley, who also served in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War.
Ripley single-handedly pushed 500 pounds of explosives beneath a bridge during an intense three-hour scramble in which he faced enemy fire. Ultimately, he blew up the bridge, which halted the North Vietnamese advancement.
“Dangling beneath the bridge and over the rushing water, with a lot of very angry people watching him, completely exposed to withering enemy gunfire, John completed, not one, not two, but five such trips,” Trump recounted.
He died in 2008 of unknown causes, weeks before a ceremony had been planned in his honor. Back in March, Congress passed legislation authorizing Trump to award the Medal of Honor to him.
Ripley’s family received the high distinction on his behalf.
“Congratulations, you have extremely good genetics,” Trump said to them.
Lastly, the president awarded retired Army Major Nicholas Dockery the Medal of Honor for acts of gallantry during the fight in Afghanistan in 2012.
A Taliban force had ambushed Dockery’s platoon, which he fought off to evacuate three wounded soldiers.
“They were ambushed by 150 Taliban fighters swarming in from multiple directions,” Trump recalled. “They came from all over the place. The enemy unleashed overwhelming torrents of fire from machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.”
“Without concern for his own life at all, Nick raced across the open ground to rally his scattered team,” he went on. “Major Dockery, you were the last man to depart the battlefield that day, and you left it a legend and a hero. We proudly award you the Congressional Medal of Honor.”
