Trump awards Medal of Honor to three veterans of Vietnam and Afghanistan wars
6 reported
President Trump conferred the Medal of Honor on three veterans during a White House ceremony on Thursday, according to a CBS News report. The recipients were retired Marine Corps Maj. James Capers Jr., retired Army Maj. Nicholas Dockery, and Marine Col. John W. Ripley, who died in 2008. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, and Sen. Lindsey Graham attended the ceremony. Capers, now 88, was recognized for his actions during a reconnaissance patrol in Vietnam in 1967, where he was wounded multiple times and led his team to extraction. Ripley was honored for destroying a bridge in Dong Ha during the 1972 Easter Offensive, preventing a North Vietnamese advance. Dockery was cited for his actions in Afghanistan in 2012, when he rescued a sergeant from Taliban fighters and evacuated wounded platoon members.
What’s reported
President Trump awarded the Medal of Honor to three veterans on Thursday at the White House.
Recipients: retired Marine Corps Maj. James Capers Jr., retired Army Maj. Nicholas Dockery, and Marine Col. John W. Ripley (died 2008).
Attendees included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, and Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Capers, 88, was part of a four-day reconnaissance patrol in Vietnam in March-April 1967; he was wounded by shrapnel and gunfire, led his team to extraction, and refused to evacuate before his men.
Ripley, in April 1972, single-handedly moved 500 pounds of explosives under a bridge in Dong Ha during the Easter Offensive, destroying it and halting a North Vietnamese assault.
Dockery, in October 2012 in Kapisa Province, Afghanistan, rescued a sergeant from two Taliban fighters, performed CPR, and signaled U.S. aircraft while exposed to enemy fire; no one on his team was lost.
Key figures
President Trump
Retired Marine Corps Maj. James Capers Jr.
Retired Army Maj. Nicholas Dockery
Marine Col. John W. Ripley (deceased)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz
Sen. Lindsey Graham
Sources: CBS News
