Overview
- The medals will be presented at a White House ceremony on Monday, March 2, according to an official Army announcement.
- The recipients are Master Sgt. Roddie W. Edmonds (posthumous), Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis (posthumous), and retired Command Sgt. Maj. Terry P. Richardson.
- Edmonds, a World War II prisoner of war, ordered all 1,200 Americans to stand for roll call in early 1945 to prevent the segregation of Jewish soldiers, refusing a Nazi commandant’s threat at gunpoint.
- Ollis, serving with the 10th Mountain Division in 2013, positioned himself between a suicide bomber and a wounded coalition officer at FOB Ghazni, incapacitated the attacker, and was mortally wounded when the vest detonated.
- Richardson, then a staff sergeant in Vietnam in 1968, repeatedly rescued wounded soldiers and directed close airstrikes for hours despite being shot, actions credited with saving 85 lives; the Army release includes formal citations and follows recent Medal of Honor presentations to CW5 Eric Slover and retired Capt. Royce Williams.