The United States President Donald Trump awarded the Medal of Honour to three American heroes during a White House ceremony honouring extraordinary acts of valour in Vietnam and Afghanistan.
“On Thursday, June 18, 2026, President Donald Trump will award the Medal of Honour to Major James Capers, Jr., U.S. Marine Corps (Retired), Colonel John W. Ripley, U.S. Marine Corps (Posthumous), and Major Nicholas Dockery, U.S. Army (Retired),” a statement by the White House said.
Major James Capers, Jr
Then-Second Lieutenant James Capers, Jr. received the Medal of Honour for acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty as a Team Leader with 3d Force Reconnaissance Company, 3d Reconnaissance Battalion in the Republic of Vietnam from 31 March to 3 April 1967.
During a four-day reconnaissance patrol, according to the statement, he and his team were tasked with locating a North Vietnamese regimental base camp.
It said that despite making contact with a numerically superior enemy force on three separate occasions, he tenaciously continued the mission. He successfully directed fire onto an enemy base camp, thwarting an impending attack on a nearby Marine battalion.
On the final day, the statement said, his patrol was ambushed by a claymore mine and came under a dense barrage of enemy fire, where he sustained multiple severe wounds.
Ignoring his injuries and extreme blood loss, he continued to lead his team, coordinate supporting fire, and direct their movement to an extraction site. Refusing to be evacuated before all his men were safe, he ensured the entire team was extracted before finally boarding the helicopter.
Colonel John W. Ripley
Then-Captain John W. Ripley received the Medal of Honour posthumously for acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty on 2 April 1972, while serving as Senior Marine Advisor to the Third Vietnamese Marine Corps Infantry Battalion in the Republic of Vietnam.
While serving in this capacity, according to the statement, he played a pivotal role in halting a major North Vietnamese mechanised assault.
“The enemy’s rapid advance depended on the capture of a bridge in the village of Dong Ha. 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 the bridge’s steel beams to emplace the explosive charges at key structural points,” the statement said.
It said that after successfully setting the explosives, he detonated the charges, destroying the bridge and stopping the enemy’s advance.
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Major Nicholas Dockery
Then-Second Lieutenant Nicholas Dockery received the Medal of Honour for acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty on 2 October 2012, while serving as a Platoon Leader, 2d Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 4th Infantry Division in Kapisa Province, Afghanistan.
On this day, a large and well-armed Taliban force ambushed Second Lieutenant Dockery’s platoon. Over the course of four hours, he fought and maintained contact with the enemy in extremely restricted urban terrain, personally risking his life on numerous occasions to protect and evacuate three wounded members of his platoon.
After consolidation and reorganisation, he directed rotary wing aircraft in the defence against subsequent enemy counter-attacks from an exposed rooftop while his unit evacuated the wounded soldiers.
The White House said the Medal of Honour is awarded to members of the armed forces who distinguish themselves conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of their own lives above and beyond the call of duty.
“While engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States; engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party,” it said.
