James Capers Jr. is a retired Major of the United States Marine Corps and is a revered Recon Marine who gallantly served in Vietnam. His heroic actions in 1966 during the Vietnam War has stirred advocacy for him to be awarded the highest U.S. military award, the Medal of Honor, which remains ongoing.

Capers was born on August 25, 1937, in South Carolina to sharecroppers. To escape the Jim Crow south, his family later relocated to Baltimore, Maryland. In 1956, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and completed training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in Parris Island, South Carolina. Later in his career, Capers was joined the elite Force Recon Marine unit where he gained prominence, broke training records, participated in 64 long range reconnaissance patrols and five major campaigns in Vietnam. While deployed to Vietnam in 1966, Capers led Team Broadminded, a specialized group of Force Recon Marines.  Capers & Team Broadminded were routinely selected to go on the most dangerous and clandestine missions such as a POW rescue ordered by President Johnson, amphibious assaults in the DMZ, recovery of a B-57 rumored to have a nuclear bomb, and search and destroy patrols in Phu Loc.

A soft-spoken man, his commendations offer an inspiring view of his heroism and self-sacrifice.  Nominated for the Medal of Honor, he has been awarded the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and Combat V, three Purple Hearts, Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, a Joint Service Commendation Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, three Good Conduct Ribbons, Battle Stars, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, CG Certificate of Merit, multiple letters of Merit, Appreciation, and Commendation.    

Capers is the first black American to command a Marine Recon company and the first enlisted black American Marine Officer to receive a battlefield commission. On November 30th, 1966, then-Staff Sergeant Capers was commissioned a Second Lieutenant. In the fall of 1967, still recovering from combat injuries, Major James Capers was selected to represent the U.S. Marines in a national recruiting campaign.  With full integration completed only in 1960, Capers’ image became the Marine Corps most popular recruitment campaign. 

Upon his return from Vietnam, Capers participated in many Cold War covert operations as a field agent in Eastern Europe and Africa. Details of these operations remain classified today.  In 2010, Major James Capers Jr. was one of only 14 members inducted into the inaugural class of U.S. Special Operations Command's Commando Hall of Honor at a ceremony in front of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base.  Major Capers Jr. is recognized as a pioneer in Recon training tactics which are still used by Special Operations forces in many other countries.