Last month, President Donald Trump posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor — the United States’ highest military award — to Tech Sgt. John A. Chapman. An Air Force combat controller, Chapman was killed by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan in March 2002 after his helicopter crashed. During the ensuing battle, Chapman lost consciousness and was left for dead, only to regain consciousness and continue fighting. He destroyed several Taliban bunkers, enabling a rescue force to successfully extricate his comrades.
During the ceremony, Trump paid special attention to Chapman’s family, telling the audience that even as Chapman completed “one of the most rigorous training programs in all of the military,” he was also a family man. “Whenever John was home,” Trump explained, “he immediately took on ‘dad duty,’ reading to the girls, playing with them, and even building an amazing swing set.”