b. 20/08/1919 Knoxville, Tennessee. d. 08/08/1985 Knoxville, Tennessee.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 27/01/1945 Stalag IX-A Camp, near Ziegenhain, Germany.
Roddie W Edmonds MOH
Roderick W. “Roddie” Edmonds was born in 1919 in South Knoxville, Tennessee, and graduated from Knoxville High in 1938. Some sources, including the 1930 Federal census and the posthumous act awarding him the Congressional Gold Medal, spell his given name “Rodrick”. He had three brothers: Thomas “Shake” Edmonds Jr., Leon Edmonds, and Robert Edmonds. He grew up attending a Methodist church in South Knoxville. He was married three times, the first two marriages ending in divorce: Marie Solomon (1942); Pauline Flora Surratt (1948); Mary Ann Watson (1953), to whom he was married at the time of his death. He had two sons: Kim Michael and Christopher W. Edmonds.
Edmonds, along with other inexperienced troops, arrived in the European Theater of Operations in December 1944, with the 106th Infantry Division, arriving only five days before Germany launched a massive counteroffensive, the Battle of the Bulge. During the battle, where much of the division was overrun, on December 19, 1944, Edmonds was captured and sent to Stalag IX-B, a German prisoner-of-war (POW) camp. Shortly thereafter, he was transferred, with other enlisted personnel, to another POW camp near Ziegenhain, Germany: Stalag IX-A. As the senior noncommissioned officer at the new camp, Master Sergeant Edmonds was responsible for the camp’s 1,275 American POWs.
On their first day in Stalag IX-A, January 27, 1945—as Germany’s defeat was clearly approaching—Commandant Siegmann ordered Edmonds to tell only the Jewish-American soldiers to present themselves at the next morning’s assembly so they could be separated from the other prisoners.
Instead, Edmonds ordered all 1,275 POWs to assemble outside their barracks. The German commandant rushed up to Edmonds in a fury, placed his pistol against Edmonds’s head and demanded that he identify the Jewish soldiers under his command. Instead, Edmonds responded, “We are all Jews here,” and told the commandant that if he wanted to shoot the Jews he would have to shoot all of the prisoners. He then warned the commandant that if he harmed any of Edmonds’ men, the commandant would be prosecuted for war crimes after the conflict ended—since the Geneva Conventions required prisoners to give only their name, rank, and serial number; religion was not required. The commandant backed down. Edmonds’ actions are credited with saving up to 300 Jewish-American soldiers from possible death. After 100 days of captivity, Edmonds returned home after the war, but kept the event at the POW camp to himself.
Edmonds never told his family of the event at the POW camp. He was again recruited to service during the Korean War. After returning from Korea, he worked variously for The Knoxville Journal and in sales related to mobile homes and cable television.
He died in 1985, never having received any official recognition, citation or medal for his defense of the Jewish POWs.
After his death in 1985, Edmonds’ wife gave his son, Chris Edmonds, several of the diaries his father had kept while in the POW camp. Chris Edmonds, a Baptist minister, began researching his story, and stumbled upon a mention of the event at the POW camp. He located several of the Jewish soldiers his father saved, who provided witness statements to Yad Vashem. Among the Jewish-American POW servicemen who were saved was Sonny Fox, an American television host and executive, who witnessed and later recounted Edmonds’ actions.
On 10 February 2015, Yad Vashem recognized Edmonds as “Righteous Among the Nations,” Israel’s highest honor for non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. The awards ceremony was held January 27, 2016, at the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., where the then-President Barack Obama praised Edmonds for action “above and beyond the call of duty,” and echoed Edmonds’ statement of solidarity with Jews.
It was revealed on February 16, 2026 President Donald Trump notified Edmonds’ son, Chris, he would be posthumously awarding Edmonds the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions as a POW in World War 2. The date for the presentation of the award is pending.
MOH CITATION:
BURIAL LOCATION: BERRY HIGHLAND MEMORIAL CEMETERY, KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: FAMILY.
