WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Trump awarded the Medal of Honor, the U.S. military's highest award, to three military veterans at the White House on June 18, 2026. 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, 88, and Ripley were veterans of the Vietnam War, while Dockery served in the Afghanistan War. Ripley's three sons and other family members attended the event.

The President detailed events from Capers' service during a four-day reconnaissance patrol in Vietnam in March and April 1967. On the final day, Capers' battalion encountered an ambush involving a claymore mine, and Capers sustained multiple gunshot wounds.

Trump said, "Every one of his fellow Marines went down wounded, but Jim rose, pushing forward on a leg that shouldn't have been able to carry any of his weight. After a shot of morphine, Jim asserted command of the firefight." Capers led his team to an extraction site. He delayed his evacuation until his team members were aboard a rescue helicopter.

The ceremony also recognized Ripley's actions as an adviser to the South Vietnamese army in April 1972 when North Vietnamese forces advanced toward a bridge in Dong Ha during the Easter Offensive. He previously received the Navy Cross. He moved 500 pounds of explosives beneath the bridge. Trump said, "When John detonated the explosives, the bridge collapsed into the river, crushing the advance, and saved the hope of a free Vietnam for Easter morning."

Dockery's actions as a platoon leader in Kapisa Province, Afghanistan, in October 2012 were recognized. His platoon encountered an ambush by Taliban fighters. He performed CPR on a sergeant who had stopped breathing. He engaged Taliban forces in urban combat for four hours, killing two Taliban fighters. No personnel from his unit were killed during the engagement. He climbed onto a roof to direct U.S. military aircraft and evacuated three wounded platoon members before departing the battlefield after the evacuation was complete.

No independent assessment of President Trump’s claims was available.