Episode Details

President Trump hosts a Congressional Medal of Honor ceremony for three recipients spanning Vietnam, the Easter Offensive of 1972, and Afghanistan. Marine Corps Major James Capers Jr. receives the honor he was recommended for in 1967, delayed nearly six decades after his commanding officer was killed before the paperwork could be signed. Colonel John W. Ripley is honored posthumously for single-handedly destroying a bridge to stop 30,000 North Vietnamese soldiers and 200 tanks over five straight hours under direct fire. Army Major Nicholas Dockery receives the award for a 2012 Afghanistan ambush where he rescued two teammates, administered CPR to a soldier who had stopped breathing, and signaled enemy positions from an exposed rooftop to bring in American gunships. Trump opens with a brief aside that the stock market just hit another all-time high and oil is dropping, then gets back to the business of honoring people who actually deserve medals.