I got a text from my wife yesterday, it was a link to a man that I had not heard of. Roddie Evans! What Edmonds did, was so heroic, that I don't know why there has not been a movie done about his life.
Edmonds (1919-1985) was a master sergent in the 106th Infantry Division, 422nd Infantry Regimen of the US Army during World War II. He was captured at the Battle Of The Bulge in December of 1944. Edmonds, the highest non commisioned officer at the POW camp, was given orders to identify all of the Jewish soldiers who had been prisoners at the time, so they could be separated from the others.
Instead the next morning, according to reports, Edmonds brought all 12,000 plus soldiers out and lined them up, along with himself. He said that they were all Jews and they would have to shoot them all. He further told the comandant, that if he shot them, he would be prosecuted for war crimes,, because the Geneva Convention requires that captured soldiers only give their name, rank, and serial number. The comandant backed down and Edmonds stand may have saved the lives of over 300 Jewish soldiers.
Edmonds did not tell his family about his act and it was after his death that his son was given the soldier's diary about the event.
Edmonds is honored in the Jerusalem Holocaust Museum, Yad Vahem, as Righteous Among The Nations, which is Israel's highest honor for non-Jews.
A move is underway to have Edmonds receive the Congressional Medal Of Honor.
Edmonds was a native of Knoxville Tennessee.
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