USMC
Some are asking why senators and representative are requesting that President Trump award Maj. James Capers the Medal of Honor, as opposed to just having the award work its way through the normal bureaucratic process?Some are asking why senators and representative are requesting that President Trump award Maj. James Capers the Medal of Honor, as opposed to just having the award work its way through the normal bureaucratic process?
Because the process to address Maj. Capers receiving the Medal of Honor failed this Marine multiple times over due to unfortunate circumstances and individual obstructionists within the system.
This is not an attempt to circumvent the process. It is decisive action being taken to correct an injustice.
To begin with, in 1967, Maj. Gen. Bruno Hochmuth, CG, 3rd Marine Division, initially proposed that Capers receive the Medal of Honor after meeting with each of the Marines who served with Capers in combat at Phu Loc.
Each of Capers’ Marines credited his actions, courage, and selfless leadership with the reason they were all alive. Each felt Capers was deserving of the Medal of Honor.
Hochmuth told Capers he would receive the Medal of Honor, while Capers was recovering from his wounds at the Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. Unfortunately, Maj. Gen. Hochmuth died in a helicopter crash in the Republic of Vietnam before ensuring that Capers received the Medal of Honor.
Tragically, then-captain Ken Jordan, Capers’ officer in command who disliked Capers immensely, for whatever reason, and who was not in combat with Capers at Phu Loc, decided instead to award Capers the Bronze Star with combat “V.” Compared to the Medal of Honor, our nation’s highest honor for military valor, the Bronze Star is our Armed Forces 4th-level award.
Of note, upon returning from Vietnam, Captain Jordan was stationed at the Marine Base, Quantico, VA, while then-lieutenant Capers was recovering from multiple shrapnel and gunshot wounds, for nearly a year. Despite having served as his OIC when Capers was wounded, and it being less than an hour drive away, Captain Jordan never once visited Lieutenant Capers.
Years later, in 2006, Maj. Gen. James Williams, while serving as acting commanding general, 2d Marine Division, directed an inquiry to determine what occurred at Phu Loc and whether Maj. Capers deserved the MoH.
Upon conclusion of the inquiry, Maj. Gen. Williams also felt Maj Capers deserved the MoH. However, at the time, like most Marines, he felt it best to use the process and to trust the system.
The Marine Corps convened an Awards Board in 2010. The board determined that Capers should have his Bronze Star with combat “V” elevated to the Silver Star Medal. When Gen. Williams requested the minutes of the awards board to understand the Board’s decision, he found that the Board had not retained its minutes.
A MoH Awards Board is a statutory board. This means, legally, the minutes must be retained. Without those minutes providing transparency into the process, it is impossible to know why the board denied Capers the MoH.
In addition to no minutes, Williams found out that Ken Jordan, the officer who disliked Capers and had denied him the MoH had retired as a Colonel and was now working in USMC Manpower Management Branch, which oversees the Awards Section. Moreover, Colonel Lee Freund, USMC (ret.), the GS-18 head of the Awards Section was previously a subordinate who had served under Jordan and maintained a close relationship.
There is good reason to believe, and email evidence Major Capers received and Williams reviewed, that the former company commander and the head of the Awards Section colluded to ensure that Capers would not receive the MoH.
<img alt captext="USMC” class=”post-image-right” src=”https://conservativenewsbriefing.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/maj-james-capers-a-question-of-justice.jpg” width=”450″>When Capers’ MoH recommendation was later elevated to the Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro, it was shot down based upon the fact that it was procedurally incorrect.
The MoH recommendation addressed many events during which Caper demonstrated extraordinary heroic actions while executing over 50 combat missions with 3rd Force Recon in Vietnam. The bureaucrats were quick to point out that, per the U.S. Code, Title 10, Section 7271, the MoH is awarded for “an action” against an enemy of the United States. The acts of gallantry or heroism must occur during a single engagement or closely related actions.
The MoH recommendation was redrafted, repackaged, and resubmitted correctly, focusing solely on one single engagement — Maj. Capers actions at Phu Loc.
Secretary Del Toro again shot down the recommendation, this time stating that Capers’ recommendation had already been reviewed and denied.
However, SecNav’s initial denial was based upon a procedural error (multiple engagements as opposed to one engagement), it was not based upon an assessment of whether any of Capers’ many heroic acts were not being worthy of the MoH.
Maj. Capers met with Congressman James Clyburn from South Carolina and other individuals with significant political influence. They all recognized Maj. Capers was deserving of the MoH and ensured Maj. Capers he would receive the award. However, in return, some implied that Maj. Capers to must help elevate a woke political narrative in return for receiving the MOH.
Despite waiting decades and having a strong desire to finally have his actions in Vietnam recognized, not just for himself but for those with whom he served, Maj. Capers refused to barter for an award which he, and others, rightfully believe should be predicated solely on his heroic actions in combat.
Congressmen Clyburn and others with political influence withdrew any support. Moreover, there is good reason to believe some may still be working behind the scenes to prevent Capers from receiving the MoH.
In August, 2020, Congressman Ralph Norman (R-SC) publicly honored Maj Capers lifetime accomplishments by making an entry in the “Congressional Record.” He then entered Capers’ MoH nomination into the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, along with a recommendation that the Secretary of the Navy name the next available naval vessel after Maj. Capers. The House of Representatives voted on and approved the bill with Maj. Capers MoH nomination included. However, the nomination and the ship naming were stripped out when it went to the Senate and never made it into the final NDAA.
Some may still feel Maj. Capers MoH nomination should again go through yet another lengthy bureaucratic procedural review, simply to “validate” the award. But if the process is not again polluted by individual obstructionists, motivated by personal, bureaucratic, political, or other issues, it would simply arrive at the same conclusion which has already been “validated” by two major generals, all of Capers’ Marines who were with him at Phu Loc, and nearly every other person who has reviewed the witness statements:
Maj. James Capers deserves the Medal of Honor. His platoon sergeant, Sgt. Ron Yerman, USMC, even stated in 2006, “Maj. Capers doesn’t deserve the Medal of Honor. He deserves two Medals of Honor.” Yerman should know, he fought alongside Major Capers for 365 days straight.
Of significant concern is the fact that should the bureaucrats require that the nomination go through yet another bureaucratic process, simply for additional and unnecessary “validation,” the delay could be the difference between Capers, who is now 87 years old and whose health is failing, receiving the MoH while he is still alive or posthumously.
Presently, six senators – Lindsey Graham, Ted Budd, Tom Tillis, Dan Sullivan, Tim Sheehy, and Tim Scott — and dozens of congressmen want to see this injustice rectified and Capers awarded the MoH while he is still alive. They intend to recommend that President Trump award Maj. Capers the Medal of Honor as soon as possible.
God willing, we will make it happen.
Image: USMC
