WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump awarded the Medal of Honor to three U.S. Army soldiers at the White House on Monday, two of them posthumously.
Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Terry P. Richardson was honored for saving the lives of 85 other service members during the Vietnam War.
Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2013, was being honored for his heroic actions during the battle that led to his death.
Sergeant Major. Roderick W. Edmonds, who died in 1985, was recognized for his leadership and defiance as a German prisoner of war during World War II.
“There is no ceremony more important than this,” Trump said at the start of the East Room ceremony, which was also attended by the honorees’ families.
The Republican president also spoke at the ceremony about his decision to go to war with Iran, his immigration crackdown, the expansion of the White House and his choice of decorations in the executive mansion. On Iran, the president argued that preemptive action was necessary to prevent Tehran from rebuilding its nuclear program and becoming “an intolerable threat to the people of the Middle East and the United States.”
The Medal of Honor is awarded by the President of the United States on behalf of Congress for combat service above and beyond the call of duty and at the risk of life.
Richardson risked his life on a reconnaissance mission in Vietnam
On September 14, 1968, Richardson was a staff sergeant serving as a platoon leader on a reconnaissance mission near Loc Ninh, Republic of Vietnam.
According to his citation, Richardson came under fire from North Vietnamese troops, including heavy machine gun fire, while rescuing three wounded soldiers. After the rescue, he led the troops to their intended destination, a mountaintop that was identified as the command location for the air raid. He discovered the location was part of an enemy camp but remained there for at least seven hours, directing the attack even after being wounded by a sniper.
The enemy troops eventually fled. After being discovered by other U.S. troops, Richardson refused to undergo a medical evaluation in order to remain in the unit.
“On September 14, 1968, his heroic and selfless actions saved the lives of 85 fellow soldiers,” the White House said.
Ollis killed while protecting others in Afghanistan attack
A staff sergeant at Forward Operating Base Ghazni, Ollis was a skilled infantryman who led soldiers during an attack on the base by enemy combatants on Aug. 28, 2013.
According to the citation, Ollis, who was 24 at the time, first directed the soldiers to a bunker and then returned to the building where they had been to check for more endangered people. He met an Allied officer from Poland. They moved toward fighters who breached the base’s perimeter and joined other coalition forces.
During the battle, an enemy combatant encountered Ollis and Polish officers.
“With total disregard for his own safety, he placed himself between insurgents and a coalition officer, who was injured and unable to walk,” his commendation read. “Sergeant Ollis fired at the insurgent, incapacitating him, but as he approached the insurgent, the latter’s suicide vest was struck, fatally wounding him.”
Edmonds led the resistance in a prisoner of war camp during World War II
Edmonds was a sergeant major and, in early 1945, the senior officer among American prisoners of war in a German POW camp.
According to the White House commendation, the Germans announced on January 26, 1945, that “only Jewish-American prisoners would be called upon by roll call the following morning and threatened with execution.”
The next day, Edmonds ruled that allowing segregation would result in the torture or death of 200 Jewish American prisoners of war. He directed officers to have all 1,200 U.S. troops present for roll call.
An angry German commander, Edmunds, stood his ground and invoked the prisoners’ rights under international law.
“We’re all Jewish here,” Edmonds said in a line Trump recounted Monday.
German officers relented and no further efforts were made to identify the Jewish American soldiers.
Weeks later, as Allied forces advanced toward the camp, the Germans ordered the prisoners to prepare for evacuation. Edmonds prepared the prisoners to rally for resistance. The Germans eventually retreated from the camp.
The White House stated: “Sergeant Major Edmonds, regardless of his own life, heroically led these prisoners of war in relentless pursuit and resistance, forcing the Germans to abandon the concentration camp, leaving behind 1,200 American prisoners of war.”
___
Burrow reported from Atlanta.
