TN SJR0927

Honors Master Sergeant Roderick "Roddie" W. Edmonds of Knoxville, Tennessee, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on March 2, 2026

Edmonds served with the 422nd Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division during WWII and was captured during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, held at Stalag IX-A in Germany

As senior NCO among approximately 1,200 American POWs, Edmonds refused German orders to identify Jewish-American prisoners, ordering all prisoners to stand together and declaring "We are all Jews here"

When the German commandant held a pistol to his head, Edmonds warned that executing POWs would violate the Geneva Convention; the officer relented, saving more than 200 Jewish-American soldiers

Edmonds passed away on August 8, 1985, never having sought recognition for his actions; born August 20, 1919