KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) -- Master Sergeant Roderick "Roddie" Edmonds, a World War II hero who defied the Nazis and saved around 200 Jewish-Americans, could receive a Congressional Gold Medal, documents showed.
Senator Marsha Blackburn filed a bill that would award a Congressional Gold Medal to Edmonds. Representative Tim Burchett filed the House version of the bill.
Born in South Knoxville in 1919, Edmonds was captured by Nazi forces in December 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge. He was taken to a prisoner of war camp, Stalag IX-A, which the Nazis used to identify and segregate Jewish soldiers, many of whom were sent to labor camps or murdered, according to the bill.
About a month after Edmonds was detained, the Nazis told him to identify which of the American soldiers under his command were Jewish and order them to separate from the other prisoners. Instead, Edmonds defied the Nazis, ordering all his men to fall out and stand outside their prison barracks.
When a German officer angrily shouted, "They cannot all be Jews," Edmonds replied, "We are all Jews here."
According to the bill, the German officer pointed a gun at Edmonds' head, but the sergeant still refused to identify which of the soldiers were Jewish, instead saying, "According to the Geneva Convention, we only have to give our name, rank, and serial number. If you shoot me, you will have to shoot all of us and, after the war, you will be tried for war crimes."
The German soldier then left the scene.
According to the bill, this action saved around 200 Jewish-American members of the Armed Forces.
Lester Tanner, a Jewish-American Armed Forces member who saw the incident, said, "There was no question in my mind, or that of Master Sergeant Edmonds, that the Germans were removing the Jewish prisoners from the general population at great risk to their survival. The U.S. Army's standing command to its ranking officers in POW camps is that you resist the enemy and care for the safety of your men to the greatest extent possible. Master Sergeant Edmonds, at the risk of his immediate death, defied the Germans with the unexpected consequences that the Jewish prisoners were saved."
Edmonds died in 1985 at age 64 without telling his family or anyone else of his brave actions. After his death, he was recognized by the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem as "Righteous Among the Nations", one of only five Americans to be so honored.
According to the bill, the award will be presented to Edmonds' son, Christopher Waring Edmonds, interim pastor of Oakwood Baptist Church in Knoxville.
In 2020, Trump said he was strongly considering awarding a Congressional Gold Medal to Edmonds. A historical marker honoring Edmonds was placed in Downtown Knoxville in 2021.