Push in Senate, House to honor Roddie Edmonds with gold medal for saving Jews during WWII
Historical marker in Knoxville, Tenn., for Roddie Edmonds. SJL file.
By Jonathan D. Salant
(JNS) — Near the end of World War II, U.S. Army Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds was ordered to separate the Jewish soldiers from the other Americans being held as prisoners of war, knowing that those he singled out would be shipped off to concentration camps.
Instead, under his direction, all 1,300 American POWs stood in solidarity. When the Nazi officer in charge of the camp demanded that Edmonds identify the Jews, he responded: “We are all Jews here.” Even when the officer pressed his pistol against Edmonds’ head, the American was unmoved. Eventually, the Nazi gave up.
For his actions that saved the lives of some 200 Jewish soldiers, Edmonds was recognized by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem as one of the “righteous among the nations,” non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. (Edmonds died in 1985.)
Now, a group of federal lawmakers have introduced legislation to award Edmonds the Congressional Gold Medal, the body’s highest civilian award. Legislation has been introduced in the House and Senate and was the subject of a Capitol Hill luncheon on Feb. 19 that brought some 65 supporters together.
“It’s kind of surreal,” Roddie Edmonds’ son Chris Edmonds, who leads a church in Tennessee, told JNS after the luncheon. “He’s always been my hero growing up. He was a great father, a great husband, a great provider and fun to be around. But to know that he did that—and he never mentioned it to us, took it to his grave—that’s the essence of a humble hero.”
“Since he’s always been my hero, I’m shocked and surprised but then I’m not, because that’s just who he was,” the younger Edmonds said of his father. “He was really a right and wrong kind of guy, a standup guy.”
Sens. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Edmonds’ home state of Tennessee, and Brian Schatz, a Jewish Democrat from Hawaii, introduced the gold medal legislation. The House sponsors are Reps. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) and Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.).
“Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds showed incredible courage to stand up for what’s right,” Schatz said when the measure was introduced on Holocaust Remembrance Day, on Jan. 27. “At a time of rising antisemitism, this bill honoring his bravery reminds us of the power of standing together in solidarity against hate—even in the toughest moments.”
Speaking at the luncheon, Blackburn said that Edmonds “had the fortitude and the will and the strength of character.” She said it would be “an honor to push” the legislation through the Senate and was “looking forward to finishing this.”
At the luncheon, supporters of the effort to get Congress to approve the medal urged attendees to call their U.S. senators and representatives and get them to co-sponsor the legislation, which requires the signatures of two-thirds of the members of each chamber before it can be considered.
Edmonds was captured in 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge and was responsible for the POWs in the camp as the senior noncommissioned officer there. All of the prisoners stood together and protected the Jews in their midst.
When the Nazi officer demanded he identify the Jewish prisoners, Edmonds said that the Geneva Convention required him to disclose only names, ranks and serial numbers. Edmonds told his captor, “You’ll stand for war crimes and you will pay,” according to his son.
The officer then put away his pistol and left, Chris Edmonds said.
“Dad could not be the head hero had he not had an army of heroes around him,” he told the luncheon.
Later, as Allied forces surged through Germany, Edmonds defied another order to evacuate the camp and march with the retreating Nazi forces, his son said. The Americans stayed put until the Allies arrived.
He was only the fifth American and only U.S. soldier ever to be recognized by Yad Vashem as one of the righteous non-Jews. He is the only one recognized for saving the lives of American Jews.
“It’s hard to lay your life down,” Edmonds said at the luncheon. “That takes guts, that takes courage, that takes moral conviction.”
“When evil confronts us, we need to be like dad and do what’s right, not only for humanity but for God,” he added. “That’s been my calling and my mission, and I think we can get dad’s story broadcast through this medal.”
