WWII Veteran Roddie Edmonds honored in Knoxville 40 years after his death

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - The legacy of Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds, a South Knoxville native and Knoxville High School alumnus, is now permanently etched into the East Tennessee Veterans Memorial at World’s Fair Park.

Edmonds was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp in January 1945, where his son, Chris Edmonds, said his father refused an order that would have singled out Jewish-American soldiers.

According to Chris, German forces demanded that only Jewish soldiers report for roll call — and threatened to shoot anyone who disobeyed.

“Dad got those orders. He turned to his men. He said, ‘We’re not doing that. Tomorrow morning, we all fall out like we always do,’” Chris Edmonds said.

The next morning, nearly 1,200 American soldiers stood in formation. Chris said the Nazi commandant pressed a pistol to his father’s forehead and demanded the Jewish soldiers step forward — but Edmonds wouldn’t budge.

“He actually leaned into the major with the gun to his head,” Chris said. “And he said, ‘Major, you can shoot me — but you have to kill all of us… you’ll be a war criminal when we win this war, and you will pay.’”

Chris said the commandant lowered his weapon and walked away, saving more than 200 soldiers.

For the Edmonds family, Thursday’s ceremony in Knoxville carried special meaning.

“To be in our hometown Knoxville and to have Dad so highly honored… is a blessing beyond description,” Chris Edmonds said, adding that the recognition will “fuel” younger generations in the family “to live lives of purpose and meaning.”

Chris told us his father never spoke about what happened during the war and took the story to his grave, dying in 1985. Chris said he first heard the full account in 2013 after tracking down former POW Lester Tanner.

Since then, Chris described the effort to document the story as a journey filled with discovery — and one he says still resonates today.

“Dad’s story is for such a time as this,” Chris Edmonds said. “We live in a day where hatred and antisemitism are rampant and dad gives us a better way.”

Chris also noted the memorial’s location is personal. He said his father once walked through the area on his way to school as a teenager, making the Knoxville tribute feel even closer to home for the family.