RIGHTEOUS AMONG THE NATIONS:US Army Master Sergeant Roddie Edmond.

RIGHTEOUS AMONG THE NATIONS:US Army Master Sergeant Roddie Edmond.

Here is America's only soldier to ever receive Israel’s highest honor conferred on non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. 

77 years ago, facing the threat of immediate execution, he and his men displayed an act of courage and character that exemplifies what it means to take a stand against evil.

US Army Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds, 422nd Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division, the “Golden Lions”, was captured by German forces at the onset of the Battle of the Bulge. 

A native of Knoxville, TN, Edmonds was 25 years old. He had only been on the front line for five days when his unit was overrun.

Edmonds' captors marched him east where he was transferred to Stalag IX-A, a camp for enlisted personnel just east of Bonn, Germany. 

As the senior noncommissioned officer at the camp, Edmonds found himself responsible for 1,275 American POWs.

On January 27, 1945, the Camp Commandant ordered Edmonds to assemble all the Jewish-American soldiers so they could be separated from the other prisoners.

Defiantly, Edmonds assembled all 1,275 American POWs.

Furious, the German commandant walked quickly up to Edmonds, placed a pistol against Edmonds' forehead, and demanded that he identify the Jewish soldiers within the ranks.

Edmonds, a keen and dedicated Baptist, responded sternly, "We are all Jews here."

Edmonds then warned the commandant that if he wanted to shoot the Jews, he'd have to shoot everyone, and that if he harmed any of Edmonds' men, the commandant would be prosecuted for war crimes when Germany lost. 

Edmonds then recited that the Geneva Conventions required POWs to give only their name, rank, and serial number, not their religion.

The commandant backed down.

Edmonds' actions are credited with saving 200 Jewish-American soldiers from being murdered.

 He survived 100 days of captivity, and returned home after the war, but kept the event at the POW camp to himself. 

He never told anyone. Edmonds later served in Korea.

It was only after Edmonds’ death in 1985 and the review of his diaries by his son that his story came to light. 

Jewish-American POWs, including Sonny Fox who after the war became an executive with NBC.

 He verified the story as did other POWs who were glad to share. 

The State of Israel declared Edmonds “Righteous Among the Nations” in 2015.