Inside Major James Capers Jr.’s Fight for the Medal of Honor
Here’s how you can get involved with
the campaign to aid an American war hero.
Major James Capers Jr. is 85 years old, and for most of his post-military life he’s been waiting for a very important call. He’s not seeking fame, nor fortune. Neither is he attempting to etch his name in the history books or be immortalized in the Smithsonian. This is about service and sacrifice. This is about shattering barriers and representing something bigger than yourself. This is about giving a decorated Marine and an American patriot his proper recognition. This is about awarding Major Capers the nation’s highest military award for valor – the Medal of Honor.
Right now, there’s a movement to make it happen that stretches all the way to the White House. In February, South Carolina Congressman Ralph Norman sent an official letter to President Trump urging him to award Capers with the prestigious medal. The letter which is cosigned by six senators and forty additional members of congress, follows Norman’s previous effort in November to introduce H.R. 187 a legislation authorizing former President Biden to do the same.
Of course, this is just one piece of the puzzle. Capers’ plight has been the subject of a critically acclaimed documentary Major Capers: The Legend of Team Broadband, the focus of a recent “The Real-Life Equalizer” episode of BLK OPS on Amazon Prime, and a dedicated evening in his honor at The National Veterans Memorial and Museum.
If you haven’t heard of him before, we thought we’d fill you in on his story. But before we do that, here’s a brief overview of the criteria needed to receive the Medal of Honor.
The Medal of Honor is awarded to a military servicemember who:
Must distinguish themselves conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity, risking a loss of life above and beyond the call of duty.
The act of valor must occur during one of three circumstances:
1. While engaged in action against an enemy of the United States
2. While engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing force.
3. While serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an
opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.
HIS STORY IN THE SERVICE
Born during the Jim Crow-era to a family of sharecroppers in the South Carolina, Capers enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1956. Breaking through the racial barriers of the time, his emerging leadership skills and strategic thinking earned him a place amongst the elite. As evident by the multiple Marine Corps training records that are in his name.
In Vietnam, Capers ascended the ranks of his Force Recon Marine unit participating in 64 long range reconnaissance patrols and five major campaigns while becoming the leader of Team Broadminded, a specialized group of Marines that were routinely selected to go on the most dangerous and clandestine missions during the conflict overseas. The unit specialized in intelligence gathering, direct-action raids, and counterinsurgency operations.
Within the Special Ops community, he’s renowned specifically for an April 1967 mission to locate and disrupt North Vietnamese forces in the Quang Tri Province. Quickly overwhelmed by the encroaching enemy, an injured Capers and his unit fought valiantly to maintain position as he called in airstrikes to save his team and suppress the ensuing attack.
Other notable missions included a POW rescue, amphibious assaults in the DMZ, and the recovery of a B-57 that was thought to have a nuclear bomb aboard. In 1967, Capers while still recovering from being injured in combat, was selecting to lead a national recruiting campaign for the U.S. Marines. Only nine years after the branch was fully integrated, Capers literally became the face of the Marine Corps most successful recruitment campaign to date.
Following his service in Vietnam, he finished his military career by participating in multiple classified Cold War covert operations as a field agent in Eastern Europe and Africa.
During his time, he had the distinction of becoming the first African American to command a Marine Recon company and the first to receive a battlefield commission. He’s also been awarded the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars with Combat "V," and three Purple Hearts for his service to our country.
Today, he lives peacefully in Jacksonville, Florida with his partner Rosa, and is the author of the book “Faith Through the Storm: Memoirs of Major James Capers Jr.,” which he began working on after the passing of his wife and son.
HERE’S HOW TO DO YOUR PART
Right now, being an advocate for this exceptional American of service is pivotal. The military non-profit Marine Reconnaissance Foundation is attempting to rally supporters by encouraging us all to write letters to our own state representatives, as well as to the Office of the President, Vice President and Secretary of Defense. If you’d like to do so, they have a preformatted letter that can be used as a template. You can get your copy by emailing them at [email protected].
Additionally, there’s a White House petition circulating that’s currently accepting signatures. You can add yours here - https://www.uap.org/major-james-capers-jr-petition/.