President Trump will award the Medal of Honor to three American warriors on Thursday afternoon, the White House announced June 18, 2026.
The recipients are retired Marine Major James Capers Jr, retired Marine Colonel John W. Ripley posthumously, and retired Army Major Nicholas Dockery.
The US Army set the ceremony for 4 PM EDT at the White House.
Three Medals of Honor in a single afternoon is rare, and the actions being honored span two wars and five decades.
Breaking News: Join us as we honor true American heroes.
Today, the @WhiteHouse will award the Medal of Honor to Major Nicholas Dockery, US Army, retired; Major James Capers Jr, US Marine Corps, retired; and Colonel John W. Ripley, US Marine Corps, posthumously, at 4 PM EDT.… pic.twitter.com/hAN4colTFH
— US Army (@USArmy) June 18, 2026
The White House laid out what each man did under fire.
Capers earns the nation’s highest award for actions from March 31 to April 3, 1967 in Vietnam, where he led a 3rd Force Reconnaissance Company patrol hunting a North Vietnamese regimental base camp.
The White House said he pressed the mission despite repeated contact with a numerically superior enemy, was severely wounded in an ambush, then coordinated fire and movement to extraction and refused evacuation until his team was safe.
Ripley is honored posthumously for April 2, 1972 at the Dong Ha Bridge in Vietnam.
He hauled roughly 500 pounds of explosives into position while exposed to enemy fire and blew the bridge to stop a mechanized North Vietnamese assault, one of the most famous feats of the war.
Dockery is recognized for October 2, 2012 in Kapisa Province, Afghanistan, where his platoon was ambushed by a large Taliban force and he repeatedly risked his life to protect and evacuate wounded soldiers.
The US Army profile on Dockery fills in a remarkable record.
He enlisted in 2004, later graduated from West Point in 2011, and became a Special Forces officer.
The Army says he is the only commissioned Army officer to earn two Silver Stars since September 11, 2001.
These upgrades did not happen by accident.
Task & Purpose reported that Congress passed laws earlier this year authorizing President Trump to upgrade the prior awards for all three men.
That step waived the usual five-year time restriction that would otherwise have blocked the upgrades, clearing the path for Thursday’s ceremony.
Two of these men will stand in the room and hear the citation read aloud. One will be honored in memory.
For Capers and Dockery, recognition came in their lifetimes. For Ripley’s family, the award answers a long wait with the highest honor the country can give.
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