President Trump awards Medal of Honor to 3 veterans for heroism in Vietnam and Afghanistan

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WINK) — President Donald J. Trump awarded the Medal of Honor to three military servicemen, including one posthumous recipient.

The three recipients are retired Marine Maj. James Capers Jr., the late Marine Col. John W. Ripley and retired Army Maj. Nicholas Dockery.

Capers earned the honor for his actions during a four-day reconnaissance patrol in Vietnam from March 31 to April 3, 1967, where he led his team against a much larger enemy force on three separate occasions.

On the final day of the mission, his patrol was ambushed and he suffered multiple severe wounds, but he kept leading his team and coordinating fire until every one of his men was safely evacuated before he boarded the helicopter himself.

Ripley's honor is being awarded posthumously for his actions on April 2, 1972, in Vietnam, where he single-handedly moved 500 pounds of explosives to destroy a bridge that a North Vietnamese force was depending on to advance.

For three hours, Ripley repeatedly exposed himself to intense enemy fire as he climbed beneath the bridge to place explosive charges, ultimately destroying it and stopping the enemy's push forward.

Dockery earned his honor on Oct. 2, 2012, in Kapisa Province, Afghanistan, where his platoon was ambushed by a large and well-armed Taliban force.

Over four hours, he personally risked his life on numerous occasions to protect and evacuate three wounded members of his platoon, and later directed aircraft defense from an exposed rooftop while his unit got the wounded soldiers out.

The Medal of Honor is the nation's highest military honor, awarded to service members who show extraordinary bravery above and beyond the call of duty while facing an enemy or serving alongside allied forces in armed conflict.