Myers, Will Swenson, and Brian Thacker.

Thank you all.

That's great to be with you again.

Thank you.

They're great people.

The first hero we pay tribute to today is one of the finest warriors to ever wear the uniform

of the United States Marines, Major James Capers Jr., sitting right here.

Thank you, James. In Vietnam, the Corps promoted him from staff sergeant

directly to second lieutenant, unusual, making Jim the first black Marine in history to receive a

battlefield commission in the middle of a war. In 1967, deep in the jungles of Vietnam, Jim and his nine-man

force recon team known as Team Broad-minded attempted to locate a suspected enemy base camp

near the village of Flew Lack. Over the course of four days under Jim's leadership,

team broad-minded, repulsed brutal attacks,

as brutal as they've ever seen,

clear trails of bloody traps and killed more than 200 of the enemy.

The enemy was going down quickly. They never really knew what the exact number was.

On the fourth day of battle, a numerically superior force of Viet Cong soldiers launched a truly devastating

ambush. Explosion shredded the air, sending Jim into a tree, ripping open his abdomen and

breaking his leg, badly, badly broken leg.

Shrapnel peppered his body in 17 places.

I hope this isn't giving you some bad memories, Jim, but I'll tell you, everybody admires

you what you went through.

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