Donald Trump awarded Medals of Honor to two military heroes at his State of the Union address, and the U.S. Army just announced that the president will be granting the highest military honor to three more heroes, two of them posthumously.
The three heroes were all Army, according to an official announcement from the oldest American military branch. The posthumous awardees are Master Sergeant Roderick (Roddie) W. Edmonds and Staff Sergeant Michael H. Ollis, while Command Sergeant Major Terry P. Richardson will be able to receive his Medal of Honor in person.
Edmonds thwarted genocidal anti-Jewish violence from the Nazis during World War II. Ollis died in Afghanistan while defending a wounded comrade. And Richardson almost miraculously survived being surrounded and attacked by Vietnamese Communists.
The Army announcement detailed the exceptional courage of the three Medal of Honor awardees. Edmonds was a senior NCO and a prisoner-of-war (POW) in Germany in 1945 at Stalag IXA. On Jan. 26 of that year, the Germans ordered that only Jewish-American prisoners fall out for roll call the next morning or face execution. Edmonds understood the bloody implications of the Nazis' anti-Jewish hatred, so he insisted that all 1,200 American POWs come out for roll call.
The Nazi commandant quickly realized the Americans were defying his orders, but Edmonds stepped forward and courageously defied the commandant by reciting Geneva Convention rights for POWs. The commandant put a pistol to Edmonds' head and said that if he didn't order the Jewish POWs to step forward, he'd be killed. Edmonds coolly told the commandant that if he were killed, the commandant would face war crimes prosecution after the war. After a tense faceoff, the commandant lowered his pistol and walked away.
Related: Trump Announces Medal of Honor, Legion of Merit, and Medal of Freedom Awards at SOTU
Several weeks later, Edmonds again defied the commandant after receiving orders to evacuate. Under Edmonds' direction, the Americans formed in front of the barracks, then broke ranks when the transports approached. The Nazis had to abandon the POWs at the camp as the Allies approached. Edmonds survived the war but died about 40 years ago, so unfortunately, he did not receive the recognition he richly earned during his lifetime. But Trump plans to recognize Edmonds' heroism for the whole country to see.
Terry P. Richardson is still alive and will receive the Medal of Honor for his actions in 1968 during the Vietnam War. In September of that year, Richardson was on a reconnaissance mission near Loc Ninh when he encountered heavy fire from entrenched Communist Vietnamese troops. Richardson exposed himself to the fire three times in order to rescue wounded soldiers, and after reaching his company and finding it surrounded, he again defied enemy fire to reach the top of the company's objective: Hill 222. The U.S. Army wanted the hill for directing air strikes, but Richardson found an enemy base camp there.
While smack in the middle of the enemy position, Richardson still managed to direct air strikes for more than seven hours, despite being injured in the meantime by an enemy sniper. He declined medical evacuation to remain with his fellow soldiers but survived anyway and will receive the Medal of Honor.
Last but certainly not least, Trump is posthumously awarding the Medal of Honor to Michael H. Ollis, who in 2013 was facing a jihad attack that included suicide vests, small arms fire, and vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices. Ollis told his fellow soldiers to move to the bunkers. After ensuring his men were in the bunkers, he went back to a building to see if casualties had been left behind and found a Coalition Forces Officer.
The two men moved toward the enemy without protective equipment and no weapons but rifles. They joined friendly forces and moved from position to position to repel the attack. The Coalition Forces Officer was wounded to the point of being unable to walk when a jihadi "insurgent" came around a corner firing. Ollis planted himself in front of the officer and incapacitated the insurgent, but unfortunately, the insurgent managed to detonate his suicide vest, fatally wounding Ollis.
We must never forget the sacrifices of those brave men in uniform whose selflessness reminds us that freedom is not free.
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