America owes its freedom to men like Maj. James Capers Jr., and it was fitting to see him take center stage as this year’s recipient of the Fox Nation Patriot Awards’ Salute to Service Award — a recognition many veterans and patriots have long said he deserved. Capers’ appearance on Fox & Friends and related Fox programming celebrated a lifetime of grit, faith, and battlefield leadership that reminds us what real courage looks like in the face of fire.
Capers is not a manufactured “influencer” or Washington celebrity; he’s a decorated Marine whose story is captured in the documentary Major Capers and told over and over by fellow Marines who served alongside him. He fought with Force Recon in Vietnam, completed dozens of classified missions, and earned high decorations for valor — a record that shines brighter the more you learn about it.
The accounts of his 1967 actions—where he led and saved men under brutal enemy fire after an ambush—are the kinds of stories that should be etched into our national memory, not buried under bureaucratic neglect. Veterans and advocates have been pushing for long-overdue recognition, arguing that his bravery meets the standards for the Medal of Honor even as official recognition has lagged.
Make no mistake: the fight to honor heroes like Capers has been politicized at times, and conservatives have every right to call out the shrugging indifference of an administration that too often forgets the men who bled for this country. When lawmakers and veteran groups rally to correct a perceived snub, they’re not playing partisan games — they’re standing up for accountability and for the principle that valor transcends politics.
Events like the Fox Nation Patriot Awards and the GI Film Festival screenings that spotlight Major Capers reconnect Americans to the values of duty, sacrifice, and loyalty that built this nation. Celebrating Capers publicly does more than hand out trophies; it forces us to remember that honoring veterans means honest history, heartfelt thanks, and concrete action to repair injustices.
So as hardworking Americans watch a true Marine — a warrior who led from the front and never sought headlines — accept an award called Salute to Service, they should feel pride and a righteous indignation at any injustice that withheld full recognition. We should be loud in our gratitude, relentless in our demands for fairness, and unwavering in our support for the men and women who defend us; Major James Capers Jr. deserves nothing less than the full honor this nation can offer.
