WW2 Soldier from Tenn in Prison Camp Defied Nazis, Saved 200 Jewish US Troops Captured in The Bulge: Medal of Honor
'US Soldier Who Protected Jews in POW Camp During WWII To Be Awarded Medal of Honor,' MSN/Jerusalem Post, Feb. 25, 2026, Ed. 🎖
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An American soldier who is credited with saving the lives of 200 Jewish comrades in a prisoner of war camp in Germany during World War II will receive the US military’s highest decoration, the Medal of Honor. The award to Roddie Edmonds, who died in 1985, was announced last week.
It comes more than a decade after Israel’s Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, recognized him as a “Righteous Among the Nations” for his bravery and six years after US President Donald Trump recounted his heroism during a Veterans Day parade.
Edmonds, a sergeant from Knoxville, Tennessee, was the highest-ranking soldier among a group taken prisoner during the Battle of the Bulge in January 1945 when the Nazis asked him to identify the Jews in the group. Understanding that anyone he identified would likely be killed, Edmonds made the decision to have all of the soldiers present themselves as Jews. When a Nazi challenged him, he famously proclaimed: “We are all Jews here!”
The show of solidarity came to light only after Edmonds’ death, when a Jewish man who had been among the soldiers at the camp shared his recollection with the NY Times as part of an unrelated 2008 story about his decision to sell a NYC townhouse to Richard Nixon when he was having trouble buying an apartment following his resignation as president. When they found the article several years later, it was the first that Edmonds’ family, including his pastor son Chris Edmonds and his granddaughters, had heard about the incident... - Read More,
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/news/us-soldier-who-protected-jews-in-pow-camp-during-wwii-to-be-awarded-medal-of-honor/ar-AA1WROYg
- U.S. Army Master Sergeant Roderick, 'Roddie' Edmonds of Knoxville, Tenn. U.S. soldier to receive Medal of Honor for saving Jewish lives.
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- 'WWII Hero Who Defied Nazis To Save Jewish Troops To Receive Medal of Honor,' Cleveland Jewish News, Feb. 27, 2026. Ed. - (Photo): Historical marker, US Army Master Sgt Roderick ('Roddie') Edmonds in Knoxville, Tenn.
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U.S. President Donald Trump will posthumously award a U.S. soldier who protected Jewish-American prisoners during World War II the Medal of Honor on March 2. U.S. Army Master Sgt. Roderick (“Roddie”) Edmonds, of Knoxville, Tenn., was captured during the Battle of the Bulge in Jan. 1945 and taken to Stalag IX-A in Ziegenhain, Germany. On the evening of Jan. 26, 1945, the Germans announced that only Jewish American prisoners were to fall out for roll call the next morning, at the threat of execution.
As the senior non-commissioned officer, Edmonds was aware of the danger facing the Jewish soldiers. He ordered all 1,200 American POWs to report for roll call, helping conceal the identity of the more than 200 Jews. Edmonds later led a rebellion in the camp, which forced the Nazis to abandon it. He died in 1985, with the story of his heroism coming to light only after his death. Israel’s Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, later honored him as one of the “Righteous Among the Nations,” a distinction held by only 5 Americans..
In 2020, Trump announced that he was “strongly considering” Edmond for the Medal of Honor.. In 2016, then-U.S. President Barack Obama stated at an International Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony in Washington, D.C., “I cannot imagine a greater expression of Christianity than to say, I, too, am a Jew.” Edmonds’ son, Chris, will receive the award on his father’s behalf at the White House on Monday. The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration that may be awarded by the United States government. It is awarded to members of the Armed Forces who “distinguish themselves conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of their own lives above and beyond the call of duty.” - More,
https://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/jns/wwii-hero-who-defied-nazis-to-save-jewish-troops-to-receive-medal-of-honor/article_9a34486c-e270-5ba8-a714-089ed30ee70b.html
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- Memorial and Museum Trutzhain, Germany
https://www.gedenkstaette-trutzhain.de/eng/
Timeline, 1939–45, STALAG IX A Ziegenhain (P.O.W.-Camp), 1945/46, Civil Internment Camp 95 Ziegenhain, 1946/47, Jewish DP-camp 95-443 Ziegenhain, 1948–51, German refugees from former German territories, 1951
municipality of Trutzhain, Museum and Memorial. The memorial and museum Trutzhain opened its doors in 2003 as the 4th memorial of this kind about the Nazi period in Hesse. The new permanent exhibition is housed in the former guard barrack of the STALAG IX A Ziegenhain POW (Prisoner of War) camp, which was situated here between 1939 and 1945.
Apart from the museum itself, the old historical town centre – the former camp’s main street and the POW camp barracks – which is protected as a group of listed buildings since 1985, are part of the memorial’s concept, as well as two cemeteries. The exhibition documents the time frame from the origin of the POW camp 1939 to the foundation of the municipality of Trutzhain in the year 1951. It exemplifies the Nazi expansion and racist policies through local history.
Furthermore, it shows the treatment of POW from all over Europe against international law, their suffering, their dying and their abuse for forced labour, as well as the ramifications of war like flight and displacement. As a memorial, a place of meeting and learning it is meant to mediate between past, present and future and to do its part for the political education and awareness of the protection of human rights and international law...