WASHINGTON (TNND) — President Donald Trump will award the Medal of Honor on Thursday to two Vietnam War heroes and an Army officer who served in Afghanistan, recognizing acts of extraordinary bravery spanning more than four decades of U.S. military service.
In a statement shared on social media, the White House said Trump will present the nation’s highest military decoration to retired Marine Maj. James Capers Jr. and retired Army Maj. Nicholas Dockery. Marine Col. John W. Ripley will receive the award posthumously for going “above and beyond the call of duty.”
Capers, then a second lieutenant with the 3rd Force Reconnaissance Company in Vietnam, is being recognized for his efforts during a four-day reconnaissance mission from March 31 to April 3, 1967. The White House said Capers repeatedly engaged “a numerically superior enemy force” while directing fire on a North Vietnamese base camp, disrupting a planned attack on nearby Marines.
Despite suffering “multiple severe wounds” during an ambush on the last day of the mission, Capers continued leading his team, coordinating supporting fire and directing the patrol to an extraction point. He refused evacuation until all members of his team had been safely removed from the battlefield.
Ripley, who died in 2008, will be honored for actions on April 2, 1972, while serving as a senior Marine adviser during the Vietnam War. Facing a major North Vietnamese offensive, Ripley spent hours maneuvering beneath a strategic bridge in Dong Ha while under enemy fire, placing hundreds of pounds of explosives along the structure.
“To destroy the bridge, Captain Ripley single-handedly moved 500 pounds of explosives into position. For three hours, he repeatedly exposed himself to intense enemy fire as he climbed beneath the bridge along its bridge’s steel beams to emplace the explosive charges at key structural points. After successfully setting the explosives, he detonated the charges, completely destroying the bridge and stopping the enemy’s advance,” according to the White House.
Dockery, then a second lieutenant serving as a platoon leader in Afghanistan’s Kapisa Province, is being recognized for actions during a Taliban ambush on Oct. 2, 2012.
The White House said Dockery repeatedly risked his life by exposing himself to enemy fire during a four-hour battle to rescue and evacuate wounded soldiers. After regrouping his unit, he directed helicopter support from a rooftop while defending against additional enemy attacks and overseeing the evacuation of casualties.
The Medal of Honor is awarded to service members who distinguish themselves through acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in combat against an enemy force.
The ceremony, which is scheduled for 4 p.m. EDT, will bring the number of Medal of Honor recipients recognized by Trump during his second term to one of the largest groups honored by a modern administration.
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