Echoes of battlefield glory resound as President Trump prepares to pin Medals of Honor on three soldiers on March 2, saluting superhuman bravery from global conflicts. Posthumous nods for WWII’s Roddie Edmonds and Afghanistan’s Michael Ollis join Vietnam survivor Terry Richardson.
Edmonds’ 1945 POW saga at Germany’s Stalag IXA foiled Holocaust extension. Defying lethal segregation orders for Jews, he unified 1,200 Yanks. Temple-gun threats yielded to his war crime rebuke, sparing all.
He capped resistance by disrupting marches, freeing captives for swift Allied freedom.
Ollis’ 2013 Afghan stand at Ghazni countered layered terror: vehicle bombs, human bombs, shelling, rifles. Securing bunkers, he reentered fray for wounded, then co-led breach repulsion armed minimally.
Ultimate sacrifice: body-blocking a bomber, neutralizing threat fatally.
Richardson’s Vietnam charge, 1968 Loc Ninh: thrice dodging MG fire for casualties amid encirclement. Wounded atop foe-infested Hill 222, seven-hour airstrike command saved 85, medevac spurned.
Civil War-born Medal of Honor graces 3,500+ for duty-transcending valor, presidentially conferred in congressional honor.