Trump hosts Medal of Honor ceremony

[33:55] Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. [34:31] I invite you to pray with me. [34:34] Almighty God, you are our rock, our fortress, and the sustainer of this nation. [34:40] Every perfect gift comes from your hand, and we give you glory for the courage you have [34:45] woven into the soul of our armed forces. [34:48] You teach us that true devotion is proven in sacrifice, and today we honor these three [34:54] patriots who on the field of battle proved their devotion to their comrades and their [35:01] nation. [35:03] Father, we thank you for Major Dockery, who braved a ferocious ambush and at times shielded [35:08] his men. [35:10] For Major Capers, who despite grievous wounds refused to yield, and for the enduring legacy [35:17] of Colonel Ripley, who through a hail of gunfire halted a massive advance by the enemy. [35:24] In their heroic actions, we see the living truth of your word, greater love has no one [35:29] than this, that they lay down their life for their friends. [35:33] Their profound sacrifice in moments of extreme peril blesses us still today. [35:38] Now Lord, we ask you to move in our hearts, pour your abundant strength into our service [35:44] members and their families, guide our commander-in-chief and military leaders, and bless the United [35:50] States of America, unify us in spirit, and keep us forever grounded in your grace. [35:57] In your name I pray, amen. [35:59] Well, thank you very much everybody, and we'll be seated. [36:08] We have some very important businesses to take care of. [36:12] I just do want to say though, the stock market just hit a new all-time high. [36:17] The 401Ks just hit a new all-time high. [36:21] And oil is dropping like a rock. [36:24] Other than that, it's another day in paradise. [36:28] Well thank you very much, Chaplain, and I have no higher privilege than serving as the commander-in-chief [36:34] of the U.S. Armed Forces, I'm so proud of them. [36:38] A 250-year tradition of the bravest and greatest heroes ever to walk the earth. [36:45] But only a few have received our highest military distinction, the Congressional Medal of Honor. [36:52] I wanted to give it to myself, but I was informed I couldn't do it. [36:57] And I couldn't find anything where I was actually worthy, so here we are. [37:01] You understand that? [37:03] But today we present this award, it's the greatest of awards to three new recipients, Marine Corps [37:10] Major James Capers, Marine Corps Colonel John W. Ripley, deceased, and Army Major Nicholas [37:22] Dockery. [37:23] Thank you. [37:25] We're pleased to be joined on this occasion by the Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth. [37:30] And he's had some good victories lately, I will tell you. [37:33] He's going to have a lot more. [37:36] Ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, Mike, thank you. [37:42] Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Kane, Acting Secretary of the Navy, Hung Kao, [37:51] and Commandant of the Marine Corps, Eric Smith, thank you very much. [37:58] With us as well are Senators Lindsey Graham, Todd Young, and Jim Banks, and members of Congress, [38:06] Morgan Griffith, Ralph Norman, Jim Baird, Victoria Sparks, all great people, all great fighters, [38:14] fighters, every one of them know them all. [38:18] I also want to salute 11 former Medal of Honor recipients. [38:23] Barney Barnum, Kyle Carpenter, James Livingston, Joe Marm, Jim McClellan, Dakota Meyer, Patrick [38:39] Patrick Payne, Earl Plumlee, Ed Byers, Will Swenson, and Brian Thacker. [38:51] Thank you all. [38:53] It's great to be with you again. [38:55] Thank you. [39:06] You're great people. [39:08] The first hero we pay tribute to today is one of the finest warriors to ever wear the [39:13] uniform of the United States Marines, Major James Capers, Jr., sitting right here. [39:21] Thank you, James. [39:23] In Vietnam, the Corps promoted him from Staff Sergeant directly to Second Lieutenant, unusual, [39:30] making Jim the first black Marine in history to receive a battlefield commission in the [39:36] middle of a war. [39:38] In 1967, deep in the jungles of Vietnam, Jim and his nine-man force recon team known as [39:46] Team Broad-Minded attempted to locate a suspected enemy base camp near the village of Phlu [39:54] Lach. [39:56] Over the course of four days under Jim's leadership, Team Broad-Minded repulsed brutal [40:02] attacks as brutal as they've ever seen. [40:05] Cleared trails of bloody traps and killed more than 200. [40:10] Of the enemy, the enemy was going down quickly. [40:14] They never really knew what the exact number was. [40:18] On the fourth day of battle, a numerically superior force of Viet Cong soldiers launched [40:23] a truly devastating ambush. [40:27] The Marine shredded the air, sending Jim into a tree, ripping open his abdomen and breaking [40:34] his leg, badly, badly broken leg. [40:37] Shrapnel peppered his body in 17 places. [40:40] I hope this isn't giving you some bad memories, Jim, but I'll tell you, everybody admires you, [40:46] what you went through. [40:47] Believe me. [40:49] Every one of his fellow Marines went down wounded. [40:51] Jim rose pushing forward on a leg that shouldn't have been able to carry any of his weight. [40:58] After a shot of morphine, Jim asserted command of the firefight he took over like nobody's [41:05] ever seen before. [41:07] Barely clinging to consciousness, he called in close air support for an entire hour. [41:14] Very dangerous. [41:15] It was sometimes a little bit too close. [41:18] And it was the only force strong enough to repel the onslaught of a lot of very tough [41:25] soldiers on the other side. [41:27] Once an extraction helicopter reached his team, Jim loaded his wounded men first before finally [41:34] loading himself. [41:36] When the helicopter groaned under the weight of his entire team, too many people, he attempted [41:42] to deplane, but his team physically held him back, refusing to leave their leader behind. [41:49] Before his incredible valor, Jim was recommended for the Medal of Honor in 1967, and everybody [41:56] knew he should get it. [41:58] But life is life. [42:01] His commanding officer, who was his biggest fan, was tragically killed before the paperwork [42:07] was signed. [42:09] That's a bad break, but now you're doing it. [42:12] Maybe this is better. [42:13] You had to wait a little while, didn't you, huh? [42:16] Jim, the nation kept you waiting far too long. [42:22] So I say to you, congratulations. [42:24] You made it. [42:25] Thank you. [42:26] Congratulations. [43:03] Thank you, Jim. [43:04] And thanks as well to your niece, Renee, and her son, Eric, who I just met. [43:10] Great people. [43:11] And brother-in-arms, Joe Rodriguez, a big fan of yours. [43:17] Thank you very much. [43:18] Congratulations. [43:21] First, we honor another legend of the United States Marines, who is sadly no longer with [43:25] us, Colonel John W. Ripley. [43:29] In the spring of 1972, the North Vietnamese prepared their Easter offensive, the largest [43:37] ground invasion since the Korean War. [43:40] It was a big, big invasion, over 30,000 North Vietnamese soldiers and 200 tanks, lots of other [43:49] equipment, high-level, planned to penetrate deep into South Vietnam and collapse the embattled [43:56] republic. [43:58] The only thing standing in their way was a bridge across the Chu Viet River and the extraordinary [44:04] courage of then-Captain John Ripley. [44:09] Everybody knew he had that. [44:11] As North Vietnamese forces surged to the North River Bank, it became clear that the assault [44:18] could only be stopped by destroying the bridge. [44:21] Vietnamese Army engineers had stockpiled over 500 pounds of explosives that needed to be [44:27] personally placed under the bridge. [44:30] As the only soldier with sufficient demolition experience, John reached for the first load [44:36] of explosives. [44:37] Everyone said, don't do it, John, don't do it. [44:40] He grabbed the steel girders above his head and hand over hand, he climbed, dangling beneath [44:46] the bridge and over the rushing water. [44:49] With a lot of very angry people watching him, completely exposed to withering enemy gunfire, [44:57] John completed not one, not two, but five such trips. [45:03] He was a strong guy, a very strong guy. [45:08] At one point, John remembers a tank round-blasting into the bridge and knocking him temporarily unconscious. [45:16] For five straight hours, he hauled explosives, placed charges, and ran a primer cord to each [45:22] one of them. [45:24] He later recalled reciting a simple prayer, Jesus, Mary, get me there, just get me there. [45:31] When John detonated the explosives, a bridge collapsed into the river, crushing the advance [45:37] and saved the hope of a free Vietnam for Easter morning. [45:42] For his heroic deeds, John Ripley was given the Navy Cross, and today we posthumously award [45:50] him the highest of all awards, the Congressional Medal of Honor. [45:55] And we're grateful to be joined by his sons, Tom, John, and Steve, grandsons Stephen, Lewis, [46:00] and Francis, and his beautiful daughter-in-law, Alexandra. [46:06] So I want to thank you all for being here, and congratulations. [46:09] You have extremely good genetics, so congratulations. [46:40] Thank you very much. [46:41] Congratulations. [46:42] He's looking down on you. [46:45] You know that, right? [46:46] Finally, we honor a hero of the war on terror, Major Nicholas Dockery. [46:54] On October 2nd, 2012, Nick's platoon was guarding the compound of the governor of eastern Afghanistan [47:03] when they were ambushed by 150 Taliban fighters swarming in from multiple directions. [47:10] They came from all over the place. [47:12] The enemy unleashed overwhelming torrents of fire from machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. [47:20] Not concerned for his own life at all. [47:23] Nick raced across the open ground to rally his scattered team. [47:28] They were all very concerned, very nervous. [47:31] There was not a lot of hope. [47:34] When word came that Sergeant Eric Mitchell was wounded and pinned down inside the compound, [47:40] Nick went after him without even hesitating. [47:43] He personally spearheaded the rescue, kicking down doors and clearing room after room. [47:48] He was looking for them. [47:49] He was going to find them. [47:51] At one point, he killed a Taliban fighter and detained two others. [47:56] As he reached Sergeant Mitchell, a grenade came raining down without thinking. [48:02] Nick tackled Sergeant Mitchell, likely saving his life. [48:07] When the smoke cleared, every man was wounded, but none were dead. [48:13] Nick did a quick headcount and realized one of his team members was still missing, Sergeant [48:18] Jack Hansborough. [48:21] Nick rushed through the compound until he found the Sergeant being dragged unconscious through [48:26] an alleyway by two Taliban fighters with very bad intentions. [48:31] Nick eliminated both terrorists in close quarters, then pulled Sergeant Hansborough back to cover, but found he was not breathing. [48:39] So urgently, Nick administered CPR until the Sergeant's heart kicked back in. [48:46] As mortar fire thundered down all around them, Nick covered his incapacitated teammate with his own body, shielding him from further injury. [48:56] 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. [49:08] He signaled enemy positions with smoke grenades, allowing American gunships to come to the platoon's rescue. [49:17] Major Dockery, you were the last man to depart the battlefield that day, and you left it a legend and a hero. [49:24] We proudly award you the Congressional Medal of Honor. [49:29] Fantastic, please. [50:01] Thank you very much. [50:03] Joining Major Dockery today are his younger brother, Blake, his partner, Jennifer, grandmother Mary. [50:11] Oh, Mary is something. I like Mary. Where is Mary? Where are you, Mary? Where are you, Mary? I love Mary. [50:19] She said, I'm a big fan of yours. You know, I like people that are fans of mine. [50:25] Thank you, Dennis. Great to be with you, too. [50:28] A friend and colleague, Chris, and five members of his unit on the day of the attack. [50:33] John, Morgan, Will, Joey, and Roshan. [50:37] Would you guys stand up, please? Would you do that? [50:40] Wow. And we're going to get them some of those coins, Nick, okay? [51:02] We're going to get them some of those. [51:03] It's not the Congressional Medal of Honor, but it's pretty good. [51:06] So you have to remember that. They'll take care of that. [51:09] As we approach the 250th anniversary of our founding, [51:13] we remember that we owe everything to heroes like those we celebrate today. [51:19] Men who went willingly to the darkest and most dangerous corners on earth [51:25] to defeat evil so we could live free. [51:28] That's exactly what happened. [51:31] These are great men, great people. [51:33] We thank you, and we will never, ever forget you. [51:37] And now I'd like to ask the military aid to come forward [51:41] and read the citations, please. [51:50] Major James Capers, Jr. [52:26] The President of the United States, in the name of the Congress, [52:29] takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to [52:32] Second Lieutenant James Capers, Jr., United States Marine Corps. [53:56] Tom Ripley, accepting on behalf of his father, Colonel John Ripley. [54:00] The President of the United States, in the name of the Congress, [54:08] takes pride in presenting the Medal of Honor posthumously [54:11] to Captain John W. Ripley, United States Marine Corps. [54:49] Major Nicholas Dockery, the President of the United States of America, [54:56] authorized by Act of Congress, March 3rd, 1863, has awarded, [55:01] in the name of Congress, the Medal of Honor to Second Lieutenant [55:04] Nicholas Dockery, United States Army. [55:06] A good gift, and all that we have comes from your gracious hand. [56:48] Father, as we leave this place of honor, let the fierce courage [56:52] of Major Dockery, Major Capers, and Colonel Ripley be permanently etched [56:57] into our hearts. [56:58] Let their lives be a lasting reminder that the truest measure [57:02] of our character is not found in what we gain, [57:05] but in what we are willing to sacrifice for one another. [57:08] Lord, we ask you to move powerfully across our ranks, [57:12] place a hedge of divine protection around our armed forces, [57:16] standing watch in all corners of the world, [57:18] and pour your sustaining grace over the families [57:22] who hold the line at home. [57:24] Grant wisdom to our Commander-in-Chief and to our leaders. [57:27] And Father, as we mark two and a half centuries of freedom [57:31] as a nation, we ask that you keep the United States of America [57:35] strong, resolute, and forever a beacon of liberty to the world. [57:41] In your name, I pray, amen. [57:44] You, God willing, God willing. [57:45] Thank you, God willing. [57:45] Thank you. [57:47] Thank you. [57:48] Thank you. [57:48] Thank you. [57:49] I have a dedication, please. [57:49] Thank you. [57:50] Thank you for the service service. [57:51] Thank you. [57:51] And then there are always for it. [57:52] Thank you,大臨. [57:52] Thank you. [57:53] In the interview we have all of you for the first couple of years [57:53] to reach for together you. [57:55] A conversation with women and one of you in our devenir [57:56] best Jiética conference [57:56] and finance minister to thank you now. [57:58] See as experts as a leader in university of [58:00] lamb in your ring. [58:01] And then on behalf of my sister Congえて, [58:02] we haveänner a remote program. [58:03] So, these super-altic reports that Umanz Dawn [58:05] I'm a member to look so quick contact [58:07] today when weЧ individually [58:08] train up 1972 and World Series