WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump awarded three Medals of Honor, the nation’s highest military decoration, at a White House ceremony on Monday.
Trump awarded the Medal of Honor to Army Master Sgt. Roderick W. Edmonds for saving hundreds of American Jewish soldiers in World War II, Army Command Sgt. Major Terry P. Richardson for saving nearly 100 lives in Vietnam, and Army Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis for giving his life to save a Polish ally in Afghanistan. Edmonds and Ollis’s medals were bestowed posthumously.
Nazis captured Edmonds and his unit in the Battle of the Bulge, taking them as prisoners of war, on December 19, 1944. After 1,200 non-commissioned officers, including Edmonds, were transferred to Stalag IX-A in Ziegenhain, Germany, where they were held prisoner, a Schutzstaffel (SS) officer on January 26, 1945, ordered that only Jewish Americans in the camp were to fall out during roll call the next day, and those who failed to abide by the order would be killed.
With 200 Jewish Americans in the camp, Edmonds ordered all 1,200 Americans fall out, enraging the Nazi commandant, as the U.S. Army notes:
The commandant once again demanded only prisoners who were Jewish be present. Edmonds boldly held his ground and recounted the rights afforded all prisoners under the Geneva Convention.
Enraged, the commandant pressed his pistol against Edmonds’ forehead and violently demanded that only Jewish Americans step forward or he would be shot immediately. Without regard for his life, Edmonds fearlessly stood his ground and refused, warning the commandant executing him would lead to prosecution for war crimes after the war. The commandant lowered his weapon and returned to his quarters.
Chris Edmonds accepted the Medal of Honor on behalf of his father, who died in 1985.
“Today, your father gets the honor he so courageously earned,” Trump said.
Richardson is credited with saving 85 lives through his courageous acts during a reconnaissance mission in the Vietnam War. The U.S. Army details:
During a reconnaissance mission between Loc Ninh and the Cambodian border on Sept. 14, 1968, his unit was engaged by intense automatic weapons and small-arms fire from a well-entrenched North Vietnamese Army battalion. Richardson maneuvered through a hail of hostile rounds and deployed his men into defensive positions while directing their suppressive fire. During the attack, he dragged three wounded soldiers back to safety.
With his platoon surrounded, he realized the only way they would avoid being overrun was with accurate tactical air strikes. Richardson made his way up Hill 222 undetected to call in tactical air strikes from a shallow irrigation ditch with only rubber trees for cover.
Once up the hill, he realized that the enemy force was a large regimental base complex of the 7th North Vietnamese Army Division. Speaking directly to the pilots, Richardson began calling in the airstrikes. An hour in, he was shot in the right leg by a North Vietnamese Army sniper. Richardson continued guiding the pilots for seven more hours, calling in approximately 32 airstrikes until the enemy retreated. His actions saved 85 lives.
Trump said that “pinned down in Hell on Earth, Terry summoned unimaginable courage,” going on to add, “Terry, today, you enter the ranks of the bravest warriors ever to stride the face of the Earth.”
During a terrorist attack on August 28, 2013, on the Forward Operating Base in Ghanzi, Afghanistan, Ollis ordered fellow soldiers to move to bunkers for protection before rushing toward the enemy and locating Polish 2nd Lt. Karol Cierpica on the way, as the U.S. Army details:
Upon reaching the attack point, Ollis and Cierpica joined other friendly forces and began a coordinated effort to repulse the enemy from the airfield and adjacent buildings.
While under continuous fire, Ollis and the others moved from position to position, engaging the enemy. While fighting along the perimeter, an insurgent came around a corner and immediately engaged them with small-arms fire. With complete disregard for his own safety, Ollis positioned himself between the insurgent and the Polish officer, who was wounded and unable to walk. Ollis fired on the insurgent and incapacitated him, but as he approached, the insurgent’s suicide vest detonated, mortally wounding Ollis.
Ollis’s parents, Robert and Linda Ollis, accepted the Medal of Honor on behalf of their son from the president.
“Nobody was anymore brave than that. In his final act on Earth, Michael absorbed the blast, sparing the life of that Polish warrior,” Trump said.
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