Watch Live: President Trump hosts Medal of Honor ceremony for Sgt. Major John L. Canley

Vietnam War Marine Receives Medal of Honor
President Trump presented retired Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. John L. Canley the Medal of Honor at the White House on Wednesday before a crowd of Canley’s fellow Vietnam veterans and senior military and civilian officials. The Marines who fought alongside Canley in the Battle of Huế had worked for years to see him receive the award – an upgrade of the Navy Cross he was awarded in 1970. Canley, now 80, is the 300th Marine to receive the Medal of Honor. On Jan. 31, 1968, with his company commander severely wounded, then-Gunnery Sgt. Canley took control of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, as it made its way toward the besieged city of Huế in central Vietnam. For the next six days, writes Stars and Stripes, Canley would organize assaults on enemy positions, killing countless enemy fighters as his team retook buildings in the city, according to award citations. Twice he would brave fire to scale a wall in “full view of the enemy to pick up wounded Marines and carry them to safety,” said the president, adding that Canley had saved at least 20 Marines’ lives during the “house-to-house” fighting.