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 ceremony is set for 4 PM EDT at the White House.
Three Medals of Honor in a single afternoon is rare, with the actions being honored spanning two wars and five decades.
The White House detailed the contributions each man made under fire.
Capers earned the nation’s highest award for his actions from March 31 to April 3, 1967, in Vietnam. During this period, he led a 3rd Force Reconnaissance Company patrol hunting a North Vietnamese regimental base camp. Despite repeated contact with a numerically superior enemy, Capers pressed the mission, was severely wounded in an ambush, and coordinated fire and movement to extraction, refusing evacuation until his team was safe.
Ripley is honored posthumously for his actions on 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 his actions on October 2, 2012, in Kapisa Province, Afghanistan. His platoon was ambushed by a large Taliban force, and Dockery repeatedly risked his life to protect and evacuate wounded soldiers.
The U.S. Army profile notes that Dockery enlisted in 2004, graduated from West Point in 2011, and became a Special Forces officer. The Army states he is the only commissioned Army officer to earn two Silver Stars since September 11, 2001.
These upgrades did not happen by accident. Congress passed laws earlier this year authorizing President Trump to upgrade the prior awards for all three men. This 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.
