Roderick W. Edmonds (Roddie Edmonds) was a Master Sergeant in the United States Army during World War 2. Roddie was born in South Knoxville, Tennessee on August 20th 1919. Mr. Edmonds enlisted in the army at the age of 22. He was member of the 442nd Infantry Regiment
During the Battle of the Bulge, Master Sergeant Edmonds was captured and sent to a German Prisoner-of-War camp in Ziegenhain, Germany called Stalag IX-A. While at Stalag IX-A, Master Sergeant Edmonds was ordered to identify the Jewish-American soldiers out of all of the 1,275 Armed Forces members that he was in charge of. Instead of following the command that he was given, Master Sergeant Edmonds showed immense bravery and had all of the soldiers assemble. When the German officer told Master Sergeant Edmonds to surrender the Jewish members Mr. Edmonds stated, “We are all Jews here.” After that statement, the German officer held a pistol to Master Sergeant Edmonds head demanding that he identify the Jewish-American Soldiers. At that point, Mr. Edmonds told the officer, “If you shoot me, you will have to shoot all of us and, after the war, you will be tried for war crimes” This act of bravery saved the lives of an estimate of 200 Jewish-American soldiers lives.
At Project Legacy we are currently undergoing the efforts to make sure that Master Sergeant Edmonds gets the recognition and honor that he deserves. We believe that Master Sergeant Edmonds deserves a Congressional Gold Medal. A Congressional Gold Medal is awarded to those, “who have performed an achievement that has an impact on American history and culture that is likely to be recognized as a major achievement in the recipient's field long after the achievement.” (Glassman, 2017). Master Sergeant Edmonds impacted American history by saving the lives of an estimated 200 Jewish American Soldiers.
If you wish to help support us in the effort of getting Master Sergeant Edmonds the honor that he very much deserves please reach out to us at Project Legacy. We are looking for different organizations to help share information about Master Sergeant Edmonds’ story as well as write support letters. Please reach out to Abigail@roddieedmonds.org to learn more about how you can help.
References
Glassman, M. (2017). Congressional Gold Medals, 1776-2016. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved from Congressional Research Service website: https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/RL30076.pdf
Sen. Blackburn, M. Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds Congressional Gold Medal Act. , Pub. L. No. S.1230.
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