Daines Honors Montanan of the Week: Master Sergeant Jesse Edinger

U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines recognized Master Sergeant Jesse Edinger of Fort Harrison for his tremendous impact on the state of Montana.

Through his “Montanan of the Week” initiative, Daines each week will highlight a Montanan by submitting a statement of recognition in the official Congressional Record, the document that reflects the official proceedings of Congress.

Daines welcomes anyone to nominate fellow Montanans for Daines’ “Montanan of the Week” program by calling Daines’ office at 202-224-2651 or by filling out the contact form on Daines’ website: HERE.

The following is a statement submitted to the Congressional Record:

Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, this week I have the honor of recognizing Jesse Edinger of Fort Harrison, MT, for his impact on the Lewis and Clark County and surrounding areas.

Jesse Edinger joined the U.S. Army directly after graduating high school in 1999. He attended basic and advanced individual training at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. His first duty station was in Fort Drum, NY, where he served as a military police Patrolman, MP. Shortly after, he received orders to go to Korea. There he was immediately assigned to the United Nations Command Honor Guard, providing a variety of missions. In Korea, he met the love of his life Sunwoo. They married and transferred to Fort Riley, KS, in 2003. Immediately after arriving Fort Riley, Jesse received orders to deploy to Iraq. In Iraq, he completed a wide range of military police battlefield functions and was able to return safely to the U.S. In 2004, Jesse left Active Duty and decided to serve his home State in the Montana Army National Guard.

After 3 years in the Guard, he was once again called back to Iraq as an MP. He spent a year there and again returned safely to his family. In 2006, he volunteered for the Montana Army National Guard honor guard team and 1 year later was hired as the non-commissioned officer in charge of the military funeral honors team. He worked hand in hand with the State coordinator to ensure fallen veterans received the most professional honors possible. He was one of Montana’s first nationally certified honor guard instructors. In 2014, Jesse Edinger once again volunteered to deploy to Afghanistan as a military police investigator. After serving another yearlong deployment, he returned to his military funeral honors position at Fort Harrison, MT, where he became a certified instructor as a casualty notification officer. These officers notify next of kin and assist family members of a soldier killed in action or that has died in the line of duty. Jesse was recently promoted to the rank of master sergeant and has conducted around 1100 funeral honors missions for Montana veterans and soldiers killed in action.

For 20 years, MSG Jesse Edinger has served his country proudly and has honored the lives of more than 1,000 Montana veterans. His wife Sun also serves in the Montana Army National Guard. Together they have three children. MSG Edinger is the epitome of a military leader, and I am proud to recognize him during Military Appreciation Week.

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