KNOXVILLE — Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President Trump in March. The recognition honored Edmonds’ actions during World War II at a German prisoner of war camp, where he defied orders to separate American Jewish soldiers from other prisoners.

Witnesses reported that Edmonds stood firm with a gun to his head and told a Nazi officer, “We are all Jews, here.” A devout Christian from Knoxville, Edmonds refused to identify Jewish members of his unit despite the threat of execution.

Edmonds did not share his story during his lifetime. It emerged only after his son examined his diary and spoke with surviving witnesses.

Command Sergeant Major Matthew Williams called Edmonds’ conduct “true reverence and heroism.” Williams said, “I think there's nothing really more heroic.” He added, “I'm glad to see that he's actually being recognized for it properly.” Williams described the moral clarity in Edmonds’ choice under duress: “The way I like to think about it is you're faced with a choice in a moment. And from the outside, looking at that, the choice is very difficult, most people would say, ‘I can't believe you do that,’ but at the end of the day, I can't believe that you wouldn't.” He also noted, “I have an opportunity to represent the people that don't get represented, because their stories are never told.”