Trump awards Medal of Honor to three soldiers, honors ‘unsurpassed courage’

president Donald Trump The Medal of Honor was awarded to three American soldiers on Monday, in a ceremony at the White House to honor their “unprecedented courage.”

the president He promoted “the three truly amazing American heroes—one alive and two no longer with us.”

The President posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor to Master Sgt. Roderick (Rudy) W. Edmonds; Posthumously the medal was awarded to Sgt. Michael H. Ollis and awarded the medal to Commander Sergeant Major Terry B. Richardson.

On Monday, the president presented the Edmonds Award for the first time.

President Donald Trump speaks before participating in the Medal of Honor ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Monday, March 2, 2026, in Washington. (Mark Schiefelbein/The Associated Press)

“In 1941, Rudy Edmonds, of Knoxville, Tennessee, joined the U.S. Army and quickly rose to become one of the Army’s youngest sergeants,” the president said. “In 1944, sailing to Europe with vigor and energy, Rudy soon found himself on the front lines of the Battle of the Bulge. This was a great battle, in which the enemy forces were greatly outnumbered, and his unit of 1,200 soldiers fought valiantly until they were completely overrun. The force was formidable on the other side. … After a four-day death march, a march that is very well covered in the history books, through the bitter cold, they were put into a German prisoner of war camp.”

The president said Edmonds “was a senior infantryman and was first in camp, meaning he was responsible for the lives of his fellow service members.”

“On July 26, 1945, a Nazi SS officer issued a loud and forceful order over the camp loudspeaker, saying that only American Jews would show up for roll call. The next morning, he added, anyone who disobeyed this order would be shot on the spot,” the president explained. “There were more than 200 Jewish American soldiers in the camp, and Rudi knew that being separated from the group would mean certain death. So he summoned his team that night and devised a plan. The next morning, all 1,200 American men lined up together, shoulder to shoulder. The Nazi commander rushed forward angrily, pulled out his Luger pistol, and pressed the barrel between Sergeant Edmund’s eyes. He barked at Rudi, ‘They can’t all be Jews!’ He shouted loudly and,” he replied. “We’re all Jews here,” Sergeant Edmonds fearlessly says over and over again, staring directly into the face of rampaging evil. The Nazi officer lowered his weapon and the soldiers burst into cheers.”

“With complete disregard for his own life, Rudy saved more than 200 of his fellow service members,” the president said.

“Their camp was liberated after two months,” the president said.

The award was accepted by Edmonds’ son, Chris.

The president then honored Richardson.

“On September 12, 1968, 102 brave men of Terry Alpha were tasked with securing Hill 222 behind enemy lines in Vietnam,” Trump said.

“They didn’t know it at the time, they had no idea, but the area was completely infested with nearly 300 enemy bunkers and many, many enemy soldiers, vastly outnumbering them by at least 4 or 5 or even 6 to 1,” the president said. “As Terry led Lima’s platoon up Hill 222, the enemy launched an ambitious and ferocious attack, unleashing a withering machine-gun and rocket-propelled grenade fire. But they didn’t stop. They kept coming, pinning themselves and Hell to the ground.”

“Three times Terry mustered unimaginable courage. He exposed himself to enemy fire to rescue his seriously wounded comrades, three times pulling them back into the group,” the president said.

The chief explained: “Terry quickly realized that the remaining 82 men had one chance to survive. And that was air support. He acted with no regard for his life, grabbed the radio and charged Hill 222 alone. He needed to be there. This was the only place he could be received.” “He withstood a storm of enemy bullets, eventually reaching the summit where he spent the next eight hours delivering tactical strikes, completely exposed… An enemy sniper shot rang out and the bullet violently tore off his right leg. He was in bad shape, but Terry ignored that and charged through. After another seven hours of calling in American fire from above, the enemy retreated.”

“Later that day, his team found him with a complete rupture of his eardrum and deformity of his right leg and foot, but he was still barely alive but alive nonetheless,” the president said. “Because of Terry’s actions above and beyond the call of duty 82 men, Alpha Company survived this battle, including two in this room.”

Chairman Norm Mayer and Dave Hemmer called to the stand.

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The President congratulated Richardson and told him: “Today you have entered the ranks of the bravest warriors who have ever struck the face of the earth.”

Finally, the President posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor to Sgt. Michael H. Ulysses for his courage and bravery above and beyond the call of duty while serving in Afghanistan.

“On August 28, 2013, terrorists detonated a 400-pound car bomb on the eastern wall of Forward Operating Base Kinsey, creating a 60-foot-wide hole in a compound housing NATO coalition forces,” the president explained. “A lot of them, ten Taliban fighters wearing suicide vests, were streaming through the compound,” he added.

The chief continued: “Michael saw the plume of white smoke rising and ran to join the fight, running without his gear. He was wearing almost no gear, no Kevlar helmet, no body armor. Only one magazine in his rifle.” “Along the way, he encountered a Polish soldier, and together they advanced under heavy fire. Very heavy fire. At one point, shrapnel tore off the Polish soldier’s legs, leaving him unable to walk with severe injuries. And in that chaos of gunfire, explosions, and charred human body parts, a terrorist insurgent appeared around the corner in his suicide vest, fully armed. And you could see it. It was going to happen.”

The president said that the terrorist “attacked the wounded Polish soldier without hesitation.”

“Michael raised his gun and squeezed between the insurgent and the man he had just met, shielding him with his body. He knew what was going to happen,” the president said. “He was protecting him with his body.”

“You know, courage is amazing. You never know who is brave and who isn’t until you’re really tested,” the president said. “We think some people are brave, and they’re not. We think others are not. And they are. You never know.”

But Trump said Ulysses had been “tested.”

“This is called the final test, isn’t it? This may be his last heartbeat,” the president said. “Michael fired his weapon, detonating the terrorist’s vest. Meanwhile, Sergeant Ulysses was killed a few weeks before his 25th birthday. No one could have been braver.”

The President added: “And his last action on the ground, Michael, absorbed the explosion, saving the life of that Polish warrior, who we are grateful to have with us in the room today.”

The President invited Polish Second Lieutenant Karol Sara Pekoa to come to the podium.

The Medal of Honor is awarded to members of the Armed Forces who, according to the White House, “distinguish conspicuous courage and intrepidity at the risk of their lives above and beyond the call of duty.”

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The White House said the honorees were individuals who “engaged in action against an enemy of the United States; participated in military operations involving conflict with a hostile foreign power; or served with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States was not a combatant.”

The White House said the conduct “must involve significant personal courage or apparent self-sacrifice that clearly distinguishes the individual from his comrades and must involve the risk of life.”

“There must be indisputable evidence of meritorious behavior, and every recommendation for the award must be considered based on a standard of exceptional merit,” the White House said.

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