♪ >> at ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. accompanied by medal of honor recipient. recipient captain gary m. rose, united states army, retired. >> let us gather in these sacred words. no one has greater love that than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. let us pray. almighty god, we thank you for the gift of this day, of this living lives all devoted to in service to you and this country. our hearts are especially grateful this day for the courage, honor, and extraordinary service of specialist james mcluhan, whose acts of bravery conveyed to us a true understanding of the bravery of life as his service demonstrates your faithfulness and a unconditional love for all humanity, we ask you to continue to inspire and guide others to their own acts of selflessness and grant all of us hearts eager and preservewill life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness -- liberty. amen. >> thank you very much. please, be seated. you chaplain hurley. secretary mnuchin, secretary shulkin,ecretary congressmanan out, upton and members of the armed forces, thank you for joining us as we award our nation highest specialist v, to c. mccloughan. joining him here today is his sons his brothers, his jamie and matt and many other members of his very large and beautiful family. we're also gratified to be joined by eight previous medal of honor recipients. well stand's name inever along the side bears our history and our hearts. i want to take a few minutes to tell you about jim and how he earned his place among legends and theyised in bangor built their house from scratch and worked 40 years at a piano factory. him a simpleght but powerful lesson never do things halfway. always do your best. jim took that lesson to heart. he played for for diversity sports in high school and three in college. in 1968, jim was drafted into the army. within six months he was trained as a medic and arrived in vietnam. jim ford all of his heart into his duties serving the sick and wounded. before long, all of his fellow "doc."s called him 80 nine menf the and charlie company to ensure on a mission to ensure a transportation route. as he end his men jumped out of the helicopter became clear they were surrounded by enemy troops. within minutes, two chapters were shot down and one of his men was badly wounded in the middle of an open field. he did not hesitate. he blazed through 100 meters of enemy fire to carry the wounded and the soldier to safety but this was only the first of many a relic deeds he would perform over the next 48 hours. after tending to the first wounded soldier he joined a mission to advance toward the enemy and advance they did. before long they were ambushed. as he cared for two soldiers strapped no from a rocket propelled grenade slashed up at the back of jim's body from head to foot. that terrible wound it did not prevent him from pulling those two men to safety nor did it stop him from answering the plea of another wounded comrade and caring him to safety a top his own badly-injured body. he was badly injured. went, shot after shot, blast upon blast. comrades said, "medic" couldd tell dawn mcluhan. he is a brave guy. back,hey had to make it except for one soldier whose plea jim could not ignore. again, doc did not hesitate. he crawled to a rice paddy stick with steel rain. that means a role it's. all over the place. as soldiers watched him, they were sure that was the last time they would see doc. they thought that was the end of their friend jim. but after several minutes passed, jim emerged from the smoke and fire caring yet another soldier. he immediately bandaged and fixed and worked. he got the wounds fixed and lifted the soldier to a medevac helicopter. his lieutenant ordered jim to get in, too. get it said, get in. but jim refused. he said, you're going to need me here. as jim now says, i would've rather died on need out of failed then know that men died because they did not have a medic. over the next 24 hours, jim fired at enemy soldiers, suffered a bullet wound to his arm, and continued to rush into gunfire to save more and more lives. afterht approached again nearly two days of no food, no volunteered to hold a blinking light in an open field to signal for a supply drop. he would not yield. he would not rest. he would not stop. he would not flinch in the face of sure death and definite danger. of miles was thousands from home, it was as if the strength and pride of our whole nation was beating inside of jim's heart. he was doing what his father taught him. his father taught him and then he just kept giving. and those 48 hours, jim rescued 10 american soldiers, attended to countless others. he was one of 32 men who fought until the end. they held their own against more than 2000 enemy troops. i know i speak for every person here when i say that we are in of your actions and bravery. one thing andu one more story about jim, and the second day of that bloody fight, jim found a few soldiers and a fellow soldier who had been shot badly in the stomach. he knew the soldier would not make it so he flung them on his back and lifted him up and carried him in his arms. as jim was caring the soldier, a thought/through his mind. although jim had always been very close to his father, he realized that it was not since he been a young boy that he had told his dad those three very simple but beautiful words, i .ove you and that moment gemma offered up a prayer. he asked god, if you get me out of this hell on earth so i can tell my dad i love him, i will be the best coast and the -- coach and the best father you can never ask for. as he prayed, a great these came over him. camegreat sense of peace over him and if it was god's will to live you would keep his promise to god as soon as he had the chance. hell on it out of that earth. he made it. your years. the first thing he did when he arrived back on american soil was to say those beautiful words, i love you dad, i love you. those words over and over again for the next 22 years until the last time he saw his father, the night before his dad passed on. today, would venture to say his dad is the proudest father in heaven. all of the love and courage in his soul. he was prepared to lay down his life so that his brothers in arms could live there is. men whoth sr 10 of the fought alongside jim, and five of those he saved. two bill, randy, mike, joe, kent, robert, it john, charles, --hael, or estes orestes, stand up wherever you may be. where are you? where are you? [applause] president trump: to why fellows, that's great. for over two centuries, our brave men and women in uniform have overcome tyranny, fascism, and every threat. they have overcome every single threat. and we have overcome these threats because of titans like jim whose spirit could never be conquered. that's with this award is, and jim's life represents so well america's unbreakable spirit. it has been 48 years since jim's battle in vietnam. he is now a husband, a father, and a grandfather. he coached high school football, wrestling, and baseball for 38 years, just like he said he would, and he brought together every member he could find of his beloved charlie company. to many people in this room, specialist v james mccloughan has always been their friend jim. ," others, he has been "coach to those who bravely served with him in vietnam, he is still doc," to his " parents watching from heaven, he will always be there son, but today, 320 million grateful american hearts, private mccloughan carries one title, and that title is hero. specialist v mccloughan, we honor you. we salute you. and, with god as your witness, we thank you for what you did for all of us. now i would like the military aide to come forward and read the citation. >> the president of the united states of america, authorized by act of congress, march 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of congress the medal of honor to private first class james d. mccloughan, united states army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. private first class mccloughan distinguished himself at the risk of his life above and be on the call of duty from may 13 through 15, 1969, while serving as a combat medic with charlie company, third battalion, 21st infantry, 196, light infantry brigade, america americal division. the company air assaulted into an area. on may 13 with complete disregard for his life, he ran 100 meters in an open field through heavy fire to rescue a comrade too injured to move and carried him to safety. that same day, second platoon was ordered to search the area when the platoon was ambushed by a large north vietnamese army force and sustained heavy casualties. with complete disregard for his life and personal safety, private first class mccloughan led two americans into the safety of a trench while being wounded by shrapnel from a rocket propelled grenade. he ignored a direct order to stay back and braved the enemy assault while moving into the kill zone on for more occasions to extract wounded comrades. he treated the injured, prepared evacuation, and though bleeding heavily from shrapnel wounds on his head and entire by, refused -- entire body, refused evacuation to safety in order to remain at the battle site with his fellow soldiers, who were heavily outnumbered by the north vietnamese soldiers. on may 14, the platoon was again ordered to move out. private first class mccloughan was wounded a second time by small arms fire and shrapnel from a rocket propelled grenade while rendering aid to two soldiers in an open rice paddy. in the final phases of the wo divisions and an element of 700 soldiers from a viet cong regiment dissented upon try the company's position on three sides -- upon charlie company's position on three sides. private mccloughan went into the crossfire numerous times throughout the battle to extract the wounded soldiers while also fighting the enemy. his relentless and courageous actions inspired and motivated his comrades to fight for their survival. when supplies ran low, private first class mccloughan volunteered to hold a blinking strobe light in an open area as a marker for a nighttime supply drop. he remained steadfast while bullets landed all around him and rocket propelled grenades flew over his prone, exposed body. during the morning darkness of may 15, private first class mccloughan knocked out a rocket -propelled grenade position with a grenade, treated numerous casualties, kept two critically wounded soldiers alive through the night, and organized the dead and wounded for evacuation at daylight. his timely and courageous actions were instrumental in saving the lives of his fellow soldiers. private first class mccloughan's personal heroism, professional competence, and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his division, and the united states army. [applause] >> bless us now, oh, lord, as we depart our separate ways. may the memory of this occasion, may our participation here unite us all in compassion for service to all the members of our families, our military, our country, strengthen us in faith and renew us in spirit and send us forth with your peace. amen. president trump: jim, thank you. god bless you. god bless your family. god bless the united states of america. thank you, jim. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please remain in your seats until the president has departed. [applause] announcer: 50 years ago, the united states was at war and vietnam. this weekend, c-span3 looks back with coverage. america", the 1967 cbs news be at not more special report. due to theit is tactics, the weather conditions, the terrain, it seems clear the american military offensive along the dmz has bogged down, like the marines in the mud. on american artifacts, we will tour the exhibit " remembering vietnam." and dad 8:00, the lyndon b. johnson vietnam war press conference. we had we would do if communist aggression and a part of the world in 1954. we said we would stand with those people and the face of common danger and the time came when we had to put up or shut up in and we put up. and we are there. announcer: watch the vietnam war 50 years later in this weekend on c-span3. >> this week on q&a we look at the lives of the a jewish theices who served on supreme court. our guest is the author of " jewish justices of the supreme court." >> one of the items in my book us -- declining seven of semitism. one was notoriously anti-somatic. anti-semitic. from his standpoint, who read the edessa the two dominate cardoza. he wrote, how dare you of flick the court with another hebrew. at 8:00r: sunday night on c-span's q&a. >> president obama awarded retired lieutenant colonel charles kettles the medal of honor. he is credited with saving the lives of 40 american soldiers in 1967, making multiple trips in his helicopter to rescue american troops pinned down by enemy fire. this is about 25 minutes. ♪