Bill filed to honor East TN World War II veteran with Congressional Gold Medal

Tennessee 1st District Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger has joined the entire state congressional delegation in introducing a bill to honor an East TN World War II veteran.

The legislation seeks to posthumously award Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds with a Congressional Gold Medal. Edmonds was captured by Nazi forces during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944, and helped to protect 200 fellow Jewish-American soldiers by concealing their religious identities while held as a prisoner of war.

In one instance, Edmonds protected his men during a mass formation at a prison camp by defying Nazi orders to reveal which soldiers were Jewish or be killed himself.

Edmonds was a native of Knoxville and died in 1985.