Edwards was born on 9 April 1897 in Mooreville, Texas, and is a Graduate from the Columbia University School of Journalism. He enlisted in the United States Army, as a Private, on 6 April 1917, the day the United States entered World War I. He was sent to France as a member of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division, where he performed the actions that earned him the Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, and a multitude of other medals and honors.  Along with Samuel I. Parker, Edwards is considered one of the two most-decorated U.S. infantrymen by American Awards. Edwards also served in World War II and ended his Military Career as a Major. He married and lived in the Bronx after the World War I, where he was a member of the Come-Back Club, an organization for disabled and returning veterans. After completing his time serving his country, he moved to Mena, Arkansas with his wife, Mary Haynie Edwards. Daniel and Mary had a daughter Mary Lynch, twin boys, Richmond Edwards and Macon Edwards, and another son, Jeff Edwards. Edwards then moved to Royal, Arkansas where he worked as a fishing guide on Lake Ouachita in the later years of his life. Daniel Richmond Edwards passed away on 21 October 1967 in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Edwards Medal of Honor Citation reads as follows:

Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company C, 3d Machine Gun Battalion, 1st Division.

Place and date: Near Soissons, France, 18 July 1918.

Entered service at: Bruceville, Texas.

Born: 9 April 1897, Moorville, Texas.

General Orders: War Department, General Orders No. 14, 4 April 1923

Reporting for duty from the hospital where he had been for several weeks under treatment for numerous and serious wounds and although suffering intense pain from a shattered arm, he crawled alone into an enemy trench for the purpose of capturing or killing enemy soldiers known to be concealed therein. He killed four of the men and took the remaining four men prisoners; while conducting them to the rear, one of the enemy was killed by a high-explosive enemy shell which also completely shattered one of Pfc. Edwards' legs, causing him to be immediately evacuated to the hospital. The bravery of Pfc. Edwards, now a tradition in his battalion because of his previous gallant acts, again caused the morale of his comrades to be raised to high pitch.