US Master Sgt. Roderick W. Edmonds was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for protecting Jewish American soldiers at a German prisoner of war camp during World War Two. In January 1945, German forces ordered that only Jewish American prisoners report for roll call under threat of execution. Edmonds, the senior non commissioned officer among the prisoners, instead directed all 1,200 American troops to stand together.

When a German commandant pressed a pistol to his head and demanded he identify the Jewish soldiers, Edmonds refused, declaring, 'We are all Jews here.' He warned the officer that killing him would constitute a war crime. The German officer ultimately backed down and made no further attempts to single out the Jewish prisoners.

Weeks later, as Allied forces approached, Edmonds also organized resistance to a planned evacuation, helping ensure the Germans abandoned the camp and left the prisoners behind. His actions were credited with saving the lives of about 200 Jewish American soldiers.

Edmonds died in 1985. His son, who uncovered the story through his father's journals and interviews with surviving veterans, accepted the medal on his behalf during a White House ceremony that also honored two other service members for acts of bravery in Vietnam and Afghanistan.