Breaking News: President Trump Holds Medal of Honor Ceremony

Give you glory for the courage you have woven into the soul of our armed forces. You teach us that true devotion is proven in sacrifice and today we honor these three patriots who on the field of battle proved their devotion to their comrades and their nation. Father we thank you for Major Dockery who braved a ferocious ambush and at times shielded his men. For Major Capers who despite grievous wounds refused to yield and for the enduring legacy of Colonel Ripley who through a hail of gunfire halted a massive advance by the enemy. In their heroic actions we see the living truth of your word greater love has no one than this that they lay down their life for their friends. Their profound sacrifice and moments of extreme peril blesses us still today. Now Lord we ask you to move in our hearts pour your abundant strength into our service members and their families guide our commander-in-chief and military leaders and bless the United States of America. Unify us in spirit and keep us forever grounded in your grace in your name I pray amen. Well thank you very much everybody and we'll be seated we have some very important business to take care of I just do want to say though the stock market just hit a new all-time high the 401ks just hit a new all-time high and oil is dropping like a rock other than that it's another day in paradise. Well thank you very much chaplain I have no higher privilege than serving as the commander-in-chief of the U.S. Armed Forces I'm so proud of them a 250 year tradition of the bravest and greatest heroes ever to walk the earth but only a few have received our highest military distinction the congressional medal of honor I wanted to give it to myself but I was informed I couldn't do it and I couldn't find anything where I was actually worthy so here we are you understand that but today we present this award it's a greatest of awards to three new recipients Marine Corps Major James Capers Marine Corps Colonel John W Ripley deceased and Army Major Nicholas Dockery thank you we're pleased to be joined on this occasion by the Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and he's had some good victories lately I will tell you to have a lot more Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz Mike thank you Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Kane Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Kao and Commandant of the Marine Corps Eric Smith thank you very much with us as well Senators Lindsey Graham Todd Young and Jim Banks and members of Congress Morgan Griffith Ralph Norman Jim Baird Victoria Sparks all great people all great fighters every one of them normal I also want to salute 11 former Medal of Honor recipients Barney Barnum Kyle Carpenter James Livingston Joe Marm Jim McLuhan Dakota Meyer Patrick Payne Earl Plumlee Ed Byers Will Swenson and Brian Thacker thank you all it's great to be with you again thank you they're great people the first hero we pay tribute to today is one of the finest warriors to ever wear the uniform of the United States Marines Major James Capers Jr. sitting right here thank you James in Vietnam the Corps promoted him from Staff Sergeant directly to Second Lieutenant unusual making Jim the first black Marine in history to receive a battlefield commission in the middle of a war in 1967 deep in the jungles of Vietnam Jim and his nine-man force recon team known as Team Broadminded attempted to locate a suspected enemy base camp near the village of Phlu Lac over the course of four days under Jim's leadership Team Broadminded repulsed brutal attacks as brutal as they've ever seen cleared trails of bloody traps and killed more than 200 of the enemy the enemy was going down quickly they never really knew what the exact number was on the fourth day of battle a numerically superior force of Viet Cong soldiers launched a truly devastating ambush explosions shredded the air sending Jim into a tree ripping open his abdomen and breaking his leg badly badly broken leg shrapnel peppered his body in 17 places I hope this isn't giving you some bad memories Jim but I'll tell you everybody admires you what you went through believe me 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 he took over like nobody's ever seen before barely clinging to consciousness he called in close air support for an entire hour very dangerous sometimes a little too close and it was the only force strong enough to repel the onslaught of a lot of very tough soldiers on the other side once an extraction helicopter reaches team Jim loaded his wounded men first before finally loading himself when the helicopter groaned under the weight of his entire team too many people he attempted to deplane but his team physically held him back refusing to leave their leader behind for his incredible valor Jim was recommended for the medal of honor in 1967 and everybody knew he should get it but life is life his commanding officer who was his biggest fan was tragically killed before the paperwork was signed that's a bad break but now you're doing it this is maybe this is better it'll wait a little while didn't you huh Jim the nation kept you waiting far too long so I say to you congratulations you made it thank you thank you Jim and thanks as well to your niece Renee and her son Eric who I just met what great people brother in arms Joe Rodriguez a big fan of yours thank you very much congratulations next we honor another legend of the United States Marines who is sadly no longer with us Colonel John W Ripley in the spring of 1972 the North Vietnamese prepared their Easter offensive the largest ground invasion since the Korean War it was a big big invasion over 30,000 North Vietnamese soldiers and 200 tanks lots of other equipment high level plan to penetrate deep into South Vietnam and collapse the embattled Republic the only thing standing in their way was a bridge across the Chu Viet River and the extraordinary courage of then Captain John Ripley everybody knew he had that as North Vietnamese forces surged to the North River Bank it became clear that the assault could only be stopped by destroying the bridge Vietnamese army engineers had stockpiled over 500 pounds of explosives that needed to be personally placed under the bridge as the only soldier with sufficient demolition experience John reached for the first load of explosives everyone said don't do it John don't do it he grabbed the steel girders above his head and hand over hand he climbed dangling beneath the bridge and over the rushing water with a lot of very angry people watching completely exposed to withering enemy gunfire John completed not one not two but five such trips he's a strong guy very strong guy at one point John remembers a tank round blasting into the bridge and knocking him temporarily unconscious for five straight hours he hauled explosives placed charges and ran a primer cord to each one of them he later recalled reciting a simple prayer Jesus Mary get me there just get me there 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 for his heroic deeds John Ripley was given the navy cross and today we posthumously award him the highest of all awards a congressional medal of honor and we're grateful to be joined by his sons Tom John and Steve grandson Stephen Lewis and Francis and his beautiful daughter-in-law Alexandra and so I want to thank you all for being here and congratulations you have extremely good genetics so congratulations thank you very much congratulations he's looking down on you you know finally we honor a hero of the war on terror major Nicholas Dockery on October 2nd 2012 Dix platoon was guarding the compound of the governor of eastern Afghanistan when they were ambushed by 150 Taliban fighters swarming in from multiple directions they came from all over the place the enemy unleashed overwhelming torrents of fire from machine guns and rocket propelled grenades without concern for his own life at all Nick raced across the open ground to rally his scattered team they were all very concerned very nervous there was not a lot of hope when word came that sergeant Eric Mitchell was wounded and pinned down inside the compound Nick went after him without even hesitating he personally spearheaded the rescue kicking down doors and clearing room after room he was looking for him he was going to find him at one point he killed a Taliban fighter and detained two others as he reached sergeant Mitchell a grenade came raining down without thinking Nick tackled sergeant Mitchell likely saving his life when the smoke cleared every man was wounded none were dead Nick did a quick head count and realized one of his team members was still missing sergeant Jack Hansbrough Nick rushed through the compound until he found the sergeant being dragged unconscious through an alleyway by two Taliban fighters with very bad intentions Nick eliminated both terrorists in close quarters then pulled sergeant Hansbrough back to cover but found he was not breathing so urgently Nick administered CPR until the sergeant's heart kicked back in as mortar fire thundered down all around them Nick covered his incapacitated teammate with his own body shielding him from further injury in his final act of unbelievable valor that day Nick climbed his way to the open roof where he was again vulnerable to Taliban gunfire at highest levels he signaled enemy positions with smoke grenades allowing American gunships to come to the platoon's rescue Major Dockery you were the last man to depart the battlefield that day and you left it a legend and a hero we proudly award you the congressional medal of honor fantastic please thank you very much joining Major Dockery today are his younger brother Blake his partner Jennifer grandmother Mary oh Mary is something I like Mary where is Mary where are you Mary where are you Mary I love Mary she said I'm a big fan of yours you know I like people that are fans of mine thank you it's great to be with you too a friend and colleague Chris and five members of his unit on the day of the attack John Morgan Will Joey and Roshan would you guys stand up please wow and we're gonna get them some of those coins Nick okay we're gonna get them some it's not the congressional medal of honor but it's pretty good so you have to remember that they'll take care of that as we approach the 250th anniversary of our founding we remember that we owe everything to heroes like those we celebrate today men who went willingly to the darkest and most dangerous corners on earth to defeat evil so we could live free that's exactly what happened these are great men great people we thank you and we will never ever forget you and now I'd like to ask the military aide to come forward and read the citations please Major James Capers Jr. the President of the United States in the name of the Congress takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Second Lieutenant James Capers Jr. United States Marine Corps Tom Ripley accepting on behalf of his father Colonel John Ripley the President of the United States in the name of the Congress takes pride in presenting the Medal of Honor posthumously to Captain John W Ripley United States Marine Corps Major Nicholas Dockery the President of the United States of America authorized by act of Congress March 3rd 1863 has awarded in the name of Congress the Medal of Honor to Second Lieutenant Nicholas Dockery United States Army and all that we have comes from your gracious hand father as we leave this place of honor let the fierce courage of Major Dockery Major Capers and Colonel Ripley be permanently etched into our hearts let their lives be a lasting reminder that the truest measure of our character is not found in what we gain but in what we are willing to sacrifice for one another Lord we ask you to move powerfully across our ranks place a hedge of divine protection around our armed forces standing watch in all corners of the world and pour your sustaining grace over the families who hold the line at home grant wisdom to our commander-in-chief and to our leaders and father as we mark two and a half centuries of freedom as a nation we ask that you keep the United States of America strong resolute and forever a beacon of liberty to the world in your name I pray amen