Trump Awards Medals of Honor to Three Veterans at White House

Three veterans received the Medal of Honor at a White House ceremony on June 18, 2026, for actions that directly preserved lives under fire in Vietnam and Afghanistan. The awards recognized documented feats that met the statutory standard of conspicuous gallantry at risk of life above and beyond duty, each supported by multiple eyewitness accounts.

President Trump presented the medals in the East Room. Retired Marine Corps Maj. James Capers Jr. was honored for leading a four-day reconnaissance patrol in spring 1967 that engaged a superior enemy force three times; on the final day he was ambushed, thrown into a tree by an explosion, struck by 17 pieces of shrapnel, and suffered a broken leg yet refused evacuation until his men were safe. The White House noted his original recommendation was delayed when his commanding officer died before signing the paperwork. Trump stated the nation had kept Capers waiting too long.

Marine Corps Col. John W. Ripley received the medal posthumously for destroying a bridge at Dong Ha in 1972, completing five trips under gunfire to place explosives that halted a North Vietnamese mechanized assault; his son Tom Ripley accepted the award. Retired Army Maj. Nicholas Dockery was recognized for actions on October 2, 2012, in Kapisa Province, Afghanistan, where he protected a meeting between Afghan and U.S. leaders, repelled Taliban ambushes for more than four hours, shielded a soldier from a grenade, rescued two missing soldiers under fire, and performed CPR that revived an unconscious sergeant.

During the presentation to Dockery, video footage showed Trump working with the medal’s blue ribbon for roughly 40 seconds before tying it around the recipient’s neck; nervous laughter followed in the room. Trump remarked afterward that the medal was not coming off. The other two presentations proceeded without reported difficulty. Trump opened the event by noting stock market performance and lower oil prices, then joked that he had wanted to award himself the medal but was told he could not.

The Medal of Honor requires at least two eyewitness statements confirming extraordinary bravery. Official Army accounts credit Dockery’s actions with saving the lives of American and Afghan soldiers present. Capers became the first Black Marine to receive a battlefield commission during wartime.