Tennessee's Nazi-Defying Hero Soldier Nominated For Congressional Gold Medal

WASHINGTON, D.C. — His story went untold for decades, mostly because he never talked about it, but now, more than 30 years after his death, more than 70 years after his heroism and nearly 100 years since his birth, Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds is receiving the honors he profoundly deserves.

Monday, Tennessee Senators Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander, both Republicans, along with Democrats Tim Kaine of Virginia and Ben Cardin of Maryland filed a bill to award Edmonds, who lived in Knoxville, the Congressional Gold Medal, a rarely awarded honor.

On December 19, 1944, Edmonds, fighting with the 422nd Infantry Regiment, was captured by Germans and sent to Ziegenhain Stalag prisoner-of-war camp. As a master sergeant, he was the highest ranking noncommissioned officer of the camp's 1,275 American prisoners.

In January 1945, the camp's commandant ordered Edmonds to tell the camp's Jewish prisoners to present themselves at a morning assembly to be separated from the rest. But Edwards had other plans.

Instead, he told every one of his fellow prisoners to present themselves outside of their barracks the next morning. Angered, the commandant shouted "They cannot all be Jews" and pushed his pistol to Edmonds' head, demanding he identify the Jewish soldiers. Defiant, Edmonds refused.

"We are all Jews here," he told the commandant.

He then threatened to have the commandant investigated and prosecuted for war crimes under the Geneva Convention which only requires prisoners to give their name, rank and serial number.

"If you shoot me, you will have to shoot all of us," he told the Nazi.

Incredibly, the commandant gave up on his efforts. There were roughly 200 Jewish soldiers and all were likely saved from certain death by Edmonds' actions.

Edmonds was in the camp for 100 days and when he returned home, he never spoke about what happened.

After his death in 1985, his wife gave his son, Chris, the Master Sergeant's war time diaries. Edmonds had kept careful records of the names and addresses of the men he was held with and Chris found them and learned of his father's incredible act of heroism.

“I would estimate that there were more than 1,000 Americans standing in wide formation in front of the barracks, with Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds standing in front of the formation with several senior noncoms beside him, of which I was one," Lester Tanner told Yad Vesham, Israel's official Holocaust memorial. "There was no question in my mind or that of M/Sgt Edmonds that the Germans were removing the Jewish prisoners from the general prisoner population at great risk to their survival. The US Army’s standing command to its ranking officers in POW camps is that you resist the enemy and care for the safety of your men to the extent possible. M/Sgt Edmonds, at the risk of his immediate death, defied the Germans with the unexpected consequences that the Jewish prisoners were saved.”

Edmonds was declared "Righteous Among The Nations" by Yad Vesham in 2015, an honor for non-Jews who risked their lives or liberty to save Jews during the Holocaust. He was the first American servicemember to be so honored and only the fifth American.

His son and the Jewish veterans he saved have been pushing for Edmonds to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor, but for now, the Senators are putting him up for the Gold Medal, which is considered the legislative branch's equivalent honor to the Presidential Medal of Freedom, as both rank as the nation's highest civilian award. The Congressional Gold Medal is extraordinarily rare — it's only been awarded 160 times since first awarded to George Washington in 1776 — with an incredibly difficult qualification, as both the House and Senate committees which oversee the award require sponsorship of two-thirds — 67 Senators and 290 Representatives — to even consider issuing it.

In an email to Patch, Chris Edmonds, a pastor in Maryville, said they are still pursuing the Medal of Honor. Initially, the younger Edmonds said, the Army took the position that as a POW, Edmonds was no longer "engaged in an action with the enemy" as required by the regulation for the Medal of Honor.

"But our position is that position disregards his willful defiance of the enemy with zero weapons. We believe his act of bravery was at the highest level of valor because he intentionally defied the Nazis and acted to save his men without regard to his life," Chris Edmonds wrote. "The Gold medal is a great honor and one we would be glad to accept on behalf of Dad should it pass. But we are committed to seek a (Medal of Honor) for Dad no matter how long it takes. "

U.S. Rep. John Duncan introduced HR 4863 to authorize the awarding of the Medal of Honor to Roddie Edmonds in March. That resolution has been assigned to a House subcommittee.

Edmonds said a book about his father should be published "in the next few months."

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Image via Yad Vesham