United American Patriots is working tirelessly to support Major James Capers, Jr., a Marine veteran whose incredible story of valor, resilience, and selflessness deserves the highest recognition.
Major Capers, who overcame tremendous adversity to become a trailblazer in the United States Marine Corps, has yet to receive the Medal of Honor he earned in Vietnam —the highest distinction our nation can bestow upon a service member.
Born into poverty during the “Jim Crow” era in South Carolina, Major Capers rose above incredible personal and professional challenges to become one of the first African Americans to serve in the elite Force Reconnaissance units. His actions during the Vietnam War, including leading top-secret special operations missions under extreme conditions, saving lives, and exhibiting remarkable leadership even after sustaining life-threatening injuries, are a testament to his bravery and patriotism.
Despite being nominated for the Medal of Honor for his heroism at Phu Loc, Major Capers has not yet been awarded this distinction, and no valid reason has been provided for the delay.
This injustice is something we are working diligently to correct.
Beyond his heroic actions in combat, Major Capers continued to serve as an example to future generations through his role as the featured Marine in the Marine Corps’ “Ask a Marine” recruiting campaign. This campaign was one of the most successful recruiting campaigns the Marine Corps ever ran and led to many fine Americans, from all walks of life, serving with honor.
Major Capers’ story is one of overcoming adversity, dedication to duty, and unyielding patriotism. It would be a historic and fitting recognition of his service to honor him with the Medal of Honor.
Surprisingly, he will be the first African-American Marine Corps Officer to receive the Medal of Honor.
While this is not the reason he should receive the award, certain individuals with influence within our government offered to help ensure Major Capers received the Medal of Honor… in return for Major Capers’ willingness to help promote a false narrative about insurmountable systemic racism in present-day America.
Major Capers, an 87-year-old fiercely patriotic and principled American, declined their support. His steadfast belief in the greatness of our nation and his commitment to unity over division are testaments to his character and integrity.
Tragically, his refusal to allow these individuals to politicize his story resulted in a lack of support from those very individuals who could have helped him secure this long-overdue recognition.
Major Capers’ unwavering loyalty to our country, his refusal to allow his personal story to be politicized, and his steadfast belief in the greatness of America are qualities that inspire all of us at United American Patriots.
Unfortunately, just recently, Major Capers again faced another unjustifiable and unexplainable obstacle to gaining notoriety. Our nation’s service academies refused to run a one-page ad honoring Major Capers in the commemorative program for the recent 125th Army-Navy Football game.
This matter was so unexpected and concerning that 23 Congressmen wrote a letter to the superintendents of the Academies (click to see the Congressmen’s’ letter) requesting an explanation.
The superintendents of the academies could have approved the ad and the publishers would have had enough time to print it. But they delayed their response and then claimed they chose a corporate sponsor over Maj Capers and didn’t have time to honor Maj Capers.
Of note, the superintendent received the letter from the Congressmen with more time before the game than it took our armed forces to accomplish the ground war in Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm.
Sadly, based upon the superintendents’ stated response and the reasons they provided, they had higher priorities (corporate allegiance over troop welfare) are incompetent, lazy, lacking a sense of urgency, scared to run the ad, or they were ordered not to for purely political reasons, i.e., Maj Capers simply was not the “right type of African-American.”
Instead of using his “15 Minutes of Fame” to talk about systemic racism, Maj Capers intends to talk about how grateful he is to have been afforded so many opportunities by America and the Marine Corps.
We are now encouraging these same members of Congress to write to President Trump to urge the President-Elect to award the Medal of Honor to Major Capers the first week he returns to the Oval Office.
President Ronald Reagan set a precedent by awarding the Medal of Honor to Master Sergeant Roy P. Benavidez, another Vietnam veteran, early in his presidency. Following this example, bestowing this honor on Major Capers during President-Elect Trump’s first week in office would be a fitting and historic acknowledgment of Major Capers’ service and sacrifice.
By awarding Major Capers the Medal of Honor, it would not only help rectify an injustice but also send a powerful message about the values of individual accomplishments which we hold dear as Americans, over group identity politics.
As we continue our efforts, we need your help to ensure that Major Capers, along with other deserving service members, receive the recognition they so rightfully deserve or protect their rights against other injustices.
1. SPREAD THE WORD, i.e., Elevate this story to journalists, podcasters, influencers, Congressmen, Senators, and the President
2. IDENTIFY THOSE WILLING AND ABLE TO DONATE, i.e., Provide uap.org the ammunition to fight this battle. Presently, 100% of funds donated to support Maj Capers being awarded the MOH goes directly to raising awareness, e.g., printing, mailing, advertising.
3. ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO SIGN THE PETITION: The more people we have signing the petition, the more motivated Congress and the President will be to award, 87-year-old, Maj Capers the Medal of Honor while he is still alive so he gets to tell his story and it isn’t coopted by others who may prefer to see him receive the Medal of Honor posthumously.
