Congressional Group Supports Capers’ MoH

Many of you will remember Major James Capers, Jr., 87. Major (then Lieutenant) Capers was awarded a Bronze Star in Vietnam, later upgraded to a Silver Star.  47 lawmakers from both Houses, including two Democrats, want President Trump to make that a Medal of Honor.

The push to honor retired Marine Maj. James Capers Jr., 87, has been ongoing for more than a decade, including legislation introduced by lawmakers as recently as January 2023, but to no avail so far.

The letter sent last week to the White House recounted Capers’ accomplishments, which include being the first Black man both to lead a Marine Reconnaissance company and to receive a battlefield commission, accolades confirmed by the Marine Corps.

And all this time I thought the Biden administration was all about ‘firsts’?

It also detailed his bravery during Vietnam in the early spring of 1967 when, despite being severely wounded, Capers quelled a numerically superior enemy force before ushering his team to safety, prioritizing their evacuation over his own.

Capers was initially awarded the Bronze Star, according to the letter, before it was upgraded to the Silver Star, which he received in 2010. Capers also earned two Bronze Stars with “V” devices for valor and three Purple Hearts, among other awards, leading the Marine Corps to call him “one of the most decorated Marines in Force Reconnaissance history.”

On the last day of his nine-man patrol on the outskirts of Phu Loc, Vietnam, then-2nd Lt. Capers led the specialized “Team Broadminded” through jungle trails they had previously cleared, “a decision he deemed ill-conceived and dangerous but was forced to follow,” the letter said.

His team was ambushed, and Capers was severely wounded, at one point needing morphine to cope with “extreme loss of blood,” according to his Silver Star citation. Capers stopped the enemy advance by calling in air support, artillery and mortar strikes close to his own position, the letter said.

Capers ordered some of his Marines to a landing zone for evacuation while he and two other troops continued to fight, according to the letter.

“When the enemy attacked again, Capers returned to the fight despite the corpsman’s attempts to restrain him, holding off the enemy with his rifle until his rounds were exhausted and then with his pistol,” the letter said. Despite being on the cusp of unconsciousness, Capers kept situational awareness of the fight and ensured his Marines boarded the helicopter for evacuation before himself.

As recently as the Army-Navy game, a pamphlet was prepared to be given out to the crowd by United American Patriots, but the heads of both concerned service academies declined to allow distribution, saying :

The academy superintendents sent a return letter to Congress stating, in part, that they had opted to “[maintain] the military-themed submissions from long-standing corporate sponsors and service organization partners,” which included Lexus; Bob’s Furniture; and Veterans Moving Forward Inc., a service dog nonprofit, according to screenshots of advertisements provided by UAP.Military.com

UAP is described as a “nonprofit that has backed service members convicted or sentenced for war crimes, among other cases it believes were wrongly tried or determined.” There is some speculation that since UAP is associated with the drive that some in power are dismissing Capers.  Major Capers had a distinguished career after Vietnam, rising to the rank of Major and was a central figure in the “Ask a Marine” recruiting program.

Some pretty heavy speculation that some in the Biden administration intentionally slow-rolled Capers’ package. Quite an interesting paper at American Thinker as well.

Category: Marines, Politics