James Capers Jr.

James Charles Capers Jr. (born August 25, 1937) is a United States Marine who received the United States's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, for heroism in Vietnam in March-April 1967.

Early years Capers lived in Bishopville, South Carolina, as a child but his sharecropper family left the Jim Crow era South for life in Baltimore, where he spent the rest of his youth and met his wife Dottie.

Medal of honor

In 2025, Congressman Ralph Norman introduced legislation to award Capers the Medal of Honor. In 2026, US Senator Lindsey Graham introduced similar legislation, which was read and advanced.

On June 18, 2026, President Donald Trump awarded the Medal of Honor to Capers. Dignitaries present at the ceremony included Pete Hegseth, Lindsey Graham, General Dan Caine, and Gerald Malloy The award came 60 years after Capers' actions in Vietnam.

Medal of Honor citation

Other recognition Capers was celebrated by Bishopville, South Carolina with the installation of three bronze plaques. One plaque is a map of North and South Vietnam. The other details Capers career. The middle plaque is a reproduction of a recruiting poster featuring Capers in his blue dress uniform with the words “Ask a Marine.” The three plaques are titled “The Place, The Legend, The Man.” :