JUNE 19, 2026 — On Thursday, June 18, 2026, President Donald J. Trump awarded the Medal of Honor to retired Maj. Nicholas Dockery, U.S. Army; retired Maj. James Capers, Jr., U.S. Marine Corps; and Col. John W. Ripley, U.S. Marine Corps, awarded posthumously.
Then-2nd Lt. James Capers, Jr. received the Medal of Honor 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 March 31 to April 3, 1967. During a four-day reconnaissance patrol, he and his team were tasked with locating a North Vietnamese regimental base camp. 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, 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.
Then-Capt. John W. Ripley received the Medal of Honor posthumously for acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty on April 2, 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, he played a pivotal role in halting a major North Vietnamese mechanized assault. The enemy’s rapid advance depended on the capture of a bridge in the village of Dong Ha. To destroy the bridge, Capt. 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.
Then-2nd Lt. Nicholas Dockery received the Medal of Honor for acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty on Oct. 2, 2012, while serving as a platoon leader with 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 4th Infantry Division in Kapisa Province, Afghanistan. On this day, a large and well-armed Taliban force ambushed 2nd Lt. 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 reorganization, he directed rotary wing aircraft in the defense against subsequent enemy counter-attacks from an exposed rooftop while his unit evacuated the wounded soldiers.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE MEDAL OF HONOR
The Medal of Honor 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.
By The White House