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The White House announced Thursday that President Donald Trump will award the Medal of Honor to three service members next week, including two who will receive the nation’s highest military decoration posthumously.
The March 2 ceremony will recognize a World War II soldier, an Army sergeant for actions in Afghanistan more than a decade ago and a retired sergeant for heroism during the Vietnam War.
The announcement comes days after President Trump presented the Medal of Honor to two recipients during his State of the Union address: Chief Warrant Officer Eric Slover and Royce Williams, a Korean War and World War II veteran. Slover was wounded during a January raid in Caracas that resulted in the extraction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
One of next week’s awards will be presented posthumously to Master Sgt. Roderick Edmonds for his actions as a prisoner of war in Germany in early 1945. According to the White House, Edmonds refused German demands to separate Jewish American soldiers from other U.S. prisoners, even when threatened at gunpoint. He also resisted efforts to evacuate the camp with German forces, actions officials say contributed to the liberation of roughly 1,200 American prisoners.
Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis will also receive the award posthumously for actions in 2013 at Forward Operating Base Ghazni in Afghanistan. The White House said Ollis shielded a wounded coalition officer during an insurgent attack and fatally shot an attacker, but was mortally wounded when the assailant detonated a suicide vest.
The third honoree, retired Staff Sgt. Terry Richardson, is being recognized for acts of gallantry during combat operations in Vietnam in 1968. Officials said Richardson repeatedly exposed himself to heavy enemy fire to rescue wounded soldiers and directed air strikes while positioned inside an enemy base area, despite being wounded by a sniper.
“After the enemy had fled, Staff Sergeant Richardson was found alive. He declined medical evacuation to stay with his Soldiers. His gallant and selfless actions on September 14, 1968, spared the lives of 85 fellow soldiers,” the White House statement noted.
