Trump awards the Medal of Honor to 3 US soldiers in a White House ceremony

President Donald Trump awarded the Medal of Honor to three U.S. Army soldiers at the White House on Monday, celebrating military heroism spanning three wars while simultaneously defending his recent military actions against Iran.

The solemn East Room ceremony honored retired Command Sgt. Maj. Terry P. Richardson for his extraordinary bravery during the Vietnam War, Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis posthumously for sacrificing his life to save a Polish officer in Afghanistan in 2013, and Master Sgt. Roderick W. Edmonds posthumously for his courageous leadership as a prisoner of war in Nazi Germany during World War II.

“There’s no ceremony that can be more important than this,” Trump said at the beginning of the event attended by family members of the recipients and the Polish officer whose life Ollis saved. “Bravery is amazing. You never really know who’s brave and who’s not until they’re tested.”

The Medal of Honor, America’s highest military decoration, is awarded by presidents in the name of Congress for combat valor that goes beyond the call of duty while risking one’s life.

During the ceremony, Trump interspersed praise for the recipients with commentary on current events, including his recent military strikes against Iran. He defended the action as necessary to prevent Tehran from rebuilding its nuclear program and becoming “an intolerable threat to the Middle East but also to the American people.”

The president also made several off-topic remarks about White House renovations, his preference for gold curtains, and even his endorsements in Polish elections when acknowledging Polish officials present for Ollis’s recognition.

Richardson, a native of Cass City, Michigan, received the Medal for extraordinary heroism on September 14, 1968, while serving as a staff sergeant on a reconnaissance mission near Loc Ninh, Vietnam. Under heavy North Vietnamese Army fire, Richardson rescued three wounded soldiers and led his unit to a hilltop position where he directed airstrikes for at least seven hours, despite being wounded by a sniper.

According to his citation, Richardson declined medical evacuation to remain with his troops, and his “gallant and selfless actions… spared the lives of 85 fellow soldiers.” Trump praised Richardson, who attended with former members of his unit, as “central casting” and even jokingly suggested to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that Richardson still looked combat-ready.

Ollis, a 24-year-old from Staten Island, New York, was honored for his heroism during an attack on Forward Operating Base Ghazni in Afghanistan on August 28, 2013. After directing soldiers to safety, Ollis discovered Polish Army Lieutenant Karol Cierpica, who had been wounded and was unable to walk.

When an insurgent confronted them, Ollis positioned himself between the attacker and Cierpica. Although Ollis fired and incapacitated the insurgent, the enemy’s suicide vest detonated as he approached, killing him instantly.

Cierpica, visibly emotional during the ceremony, paid tribute to Ollis saying, “A soldier is not something you are from time to time. It is who you are forever.” In a powerful testament to their bond, Cierpica named his son Michael after Ollis and referred to the Ollis family from Staten Island as his “second family.”

Master Sgt. Edmonds received recognition for his extraordinary moral courage at a German prisoner-of-war camp in early 1945. As the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer among American POWs, Edmonds faced a critical test when German authorities demanded that Jewish-American prisoners be segregated for roll call the following morning.

Recognizing this would likely result in the torture or death of approximately 200 Jewish American soldiers, Edmonds ordered all 1,200 American troops to present themselves together. When the enraged German commandant threatened him with a pistol, Edmonds stood firm, invoking prisoners’ rights under international law and declaring, “We are all Jews here.”

The German officer backed down, and no further attempts were made to identify Jewish soldiers. Weeks later, as Allied forces approached, Edmonds organized resistance that ultimately led German forces to retreat from the camp, saving 1,200 American lives.

Edmonds’ son, Chris, who accepted the medal on his father’s behalf, only discovered this remarkable story after his father’s death when reading his journals and interviewing surviving veterans from the camp. He spent years advocating for this official recognition of his father’s heroism.

The ceremony highlighted extraordinary moments of American military valor spanning from World War II to the recent conflicts in Afghanistan, showcasing the enduring nature of battlefield courage across generations.