Trump awards Medals of Honor to Maduro raid helicopter pilot, Korean War vet

President Donald Trump on Tuesday awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor to Chief Warrant Officer Eric Slover, who was wounded during the January raid that saw U.S. forces extract Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from Caracas to face trial.He also awarded the medal to Royce Williams, who served in both World War II and the Korean War. Williams received the award for actions during the Korean War.
Speaking of Slover, Trump touted his conduct during the Maduro operation.
“The deeds of one warrior that night will live forever in the eternal chronicles of military valor,” Trump said during the State of the Union address. “Chief Warrant Officer 5 Eric Slover planned a mission and was the flight lead in the cockpit of the first helicopter, a big, beautiful, powerful helicopter, a massive Chinook, carrying, as you can imagine, many, many American war fighters wearing the dog tags.”
“His wife, Amy, had blessed with holy water before he left. She knew it was going to be a rough one. Eric steered the Chinook under the cover of night and descended swiftly upon Maduro’s heavily protected military fortress,” he added. “Well, preparing to land enemy machine guns fired from every angle, and Eric was hit very badly in the leg and hip, one bullet after another.”
“He absorbed four agonizing shots, shredding his leg into numerous pieces,” Trump went on. “And yet, despite the fact that the use of his legs was vital to successful helicopter flight, legs are the most important part of flying a helicopter to deliver the many commandos who would capture and detain Maduro was the only thing Eric was thinking about.”
General Jonathan Braga presented the award to Slover during the speech at Trump’s behest.
Of Williams, Trump spoke of his service record, saying that he flew more the 220 missions in the skies over Korea. Trump awarded him the medal for his conduct during a 1952 dogfight in which he sustained serious injuries.
“He didn’t even want to tell his wife, but the legend grew and grew, but tonight, at 100 years old, this brave Navy captain is finally getting the recognition he deserves,” Trump said. “He was a legend long before this evening. Royce, please stand up and I will ask the First Lady of the United States to present Captain Royce Williams with his Congressional Medal of Honor.”
First lady Melania Trump presented the Medal of Honor to Williams.
Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.

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