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

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump awarded the Medal of Honor to three U.S. Army soldiers at the White House on Monday, celebrating heroes of old wars as he defended his launch of a new one.

Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Terry P. Richardson was recognized for actions during the Vietnam War that were credited with saving the lives of 85 other service members.

Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis, who was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2013, was recognized for saving a Polish Army officer’s life.

Master Sgt. Roderick W. Edmonds, who died in 1985, was recognized for his leadership and resistance as a prisoner of war in Germany during World War II.

“There’s no ceremony that can be more important than this,” Trump said to begin the East Room ceremony that included the recipients’ family members and the man Ollis shielded from enemy fire.

“Bravery is amazing,” Trump said. “You never really know who’s brave and who’s not until they’re tested.”

Before giving medals, Trump talks Iran, curtains and Polish politics

The Republican president also used the ceremony to talk about his fledgling war in Iran, his immigration crackdown, expansion of the White House and curtains that he chose at the executive mansion.

“I picked those drapes in my first term. I always liked gold,” he said.

When noting Polish government officials there to recognize Ollis, Trump ventured into an aside on his endorsements in Poland’s elections.

On Iran, Trump said preemptive action was necessary to block Tehran from rebuilding its nuclear program and becoming “an intolerable threat to the Middle East but also to the American people.”

The Medal of Honor is awarded by U.S. presidents, in the name of Congress, for combat service that goes beyond the call of duty and risks one’s life.

Richardson led a Vietnam reconnaissance mission

On Sept. 14, 1968, Richardson was a staff sergeant on a reconnaissance mission as a platoon leader in the vicinity of Loc Ninh, part of the Republic of Vietnam.

According to his citation, Richardson, a native of Cass City, Michigan, came under fire from the North Vietnamese Army, including heavy machine gun fire as he rescued three wounded soldiers. After the rescues, he led his unit to its intended destination, a hilltop identified as a place to direct airstrikes. He found the location to be part of an enemy camp but remained for at least seven hours, directing strikes even after being wounded by a sniper.

Enemy forces eventually fled. Richardson, when found by other U.S. forces, declined medical evaluation so he could remain with his troops.

“His gallant and selfless actions … spared the lives of 85 fellow soldiers,” the White House said.

Trump praised Richardson, who attended with some members of his unit, as a “brave man” and described him as “central casting.”

“You feel like fighting? I think we could take him today,” Trump said, joking with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Ollis was killed shielding someone else in Afghanistan attack

As a staff sergeant at Forward Operating Base Ghazni, Ollis was a skilled infantryman who led soldiers during an attack on the base by enemy combatants on Aug. 28, 2013.

Ollis, 24 at the time, first directed soldiers to a bunker before returning to the building where they had been to check for any more endangered people, according to his citation. The New York City native came upon a Coalition Forces officer Lt. Karol Cierpica of Poland. They moved toward combatants who breached the base perimeter and joined other coalition forces.

During fighting, one enemy combatant confronted Ollis and Cierpica.

“With complete disregard for his own safety, he positioned himself between the insurgent and the Coalition Forces Officer, who had been wounded and unable to walk,” his commendation reads. “Staff Sergeant Ollis fired on the insurgent and incapacitated him, but as he approached the insurgent, the latter’s suicide vest was detonated, mortally wounding him.”

Called to the podium by Trump, Cierpica at times grew emotional as he paid tribute.

“A soldier is not something you are from time to time. It is who you are forever,” Cierpica said, later adding, “I am deeply moved, happy and grateful to God.”

Cierpica named his son, Michael, after Ollis, and he addressed members of Ollis’ family by name, calling them “my second family from Staten Island” and the U.S. his “second homeland.”

Edmonds led resistance in POW camp during World War II

A master sergeant, Edmonds was the ranking non-commissioned officer among American prisoners of war at a German camp in early 1945.

According to the commendation, the Germans announced on Jan. 26, 1945, that “only Jewish-American prisoners would fall out for roll call the following morning, at the threat of execution.”

Edmonds, who enlisted from South Knoxville, Tennessee, determined that allowing that segregation would result in the torture or death of 200 Jewish American POWs. He directed officers to have all 1,200 American troops present themselves for roll call.

With a German commandant enraged, Edmonds stood his ground and invoked prisoners’ rights under international law.

“We are all Jews here,” Edmonds said in a quote that Trump recounted Monday.

The German officer relented and made no further efforts to identify the Jewish American soldiers.

“Really amazing, right? It’s an amazing story,” Trump said.

Weeks later, as Allied forces advanced toward the camp, the Germans ordered POWs to prepare for evacuation. Edmonds prepared the POWs to assemble in formation and resist. German forces eventually retreated from the camp.

“Without regard for his own life Master Sergeant Edmonds gallantly led these prisoners in a relentless pursuit of opposition and resistance, forcing the Germans to abandon the camp leaving the 1,200 American prisoners behind,” the White House said.

Edmonds’ son, Chris, first learned of the story when reading his father’s journals after his death, then interviewing surviving veterans who also were POWs. Chris Edmonds spent years pushing for the official recognition and on Monday accepted the medal from Trump on his father’s behalf.

Barrow reported from Atlanta.