06/28/2026
Roddie Edmonds of the 106th Infantry Division Association
In January 1945, a German commandant ordered every Jewish American prisoner in a POW camp to step forward.
Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds knew exactly what that meant.
Edmonds, a 25-year-old soldier from Knoxville, Tennessee, had been captured during the Battle of the Bulge and sent to Stalag IX-A in Germany. As the senior non-commissioned officer among 1,292 American prisoners, he was responsible for the men under his command. When the Germans announced that all Jewish prisoners were to identify themselves at the next morning's roll call, Edmonds understood the danger immediately. Jewish POWs had already been separated in other camps and sent to forced labor details. Many never came back.
That night, Edmonds gave an order of his own. Every American prisoner would report for roll call. Not just the Jewish soldiers. Everyone. Christians, Jews, Catholics, Protestants, atheists. Every man in every barracks. If the Germans wanted the Jewish prisoners, they would have to face all 1,292 Americans standing together.
The next morning, the commandant walked out and saw exactly that. Row after row of American POWs standing shoulder to shoulder. Furious, he demanded to know who the Jews were. Edmonds refused to identify them. The German officer drew his pistol, pressed it against Edmonds' forehead, and repeated the demand. Edmonds did not move. He calmly reminded the commandant that under the Geneva Convention, prisoners were only required to provide their name, rank, and serial number. Then he delivered the words that would define his life: "We are all Jews here."
For several seconds, no one knew what would happen next. The pistol remained pressed against Edmonds' head. Then he issued one final warning. If the commandant shot him, he said, he would have to shoot all of them, and after the war he would be tried for war crimes. The German officer stared at him, holstered the weapon, and walked away. Roughly 200 Jewish American prisoners were spared.
Edmonds never considered himself a hero. After the war, he returned to Tennessee, raised a family, worked ordinary jobs, and rarely spoke about what happened. When he died in 1985, many people closest to him had never heard the story. It took decades of work by his son and surviving witnesses to bring his actions to light.
In 2015, Yad Vashem recognized him as Righteous Among the Nations, making him the only American soldier ever to receive that honor. In March 2026, eighty-one years after standing in front of a loaded pistol, Roddie Edmonds was finally awarded the Medal of Honor.
Some men lead by rank. Others lead by example.
When the moment came, Roddie Edmonds chose neither fear nor self-preservation. He chose his men.
Would you have had the courage to do the same?
