Miami, Jan. 13, 2020 – Miami Dade College (MDC) and the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach present Pastor Chris Edmonds, son of WWII hero Army Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds, whose bravery and inspiring leadership saved Jewish American soldiers in a prisoner of war camp in Germany. His presentation, Roddie’s Code: A Lone Soldier Saves Jewish POWs from the Nazis, will take place at 11:15 a.m., on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at MDC’s Homestead Campus. Free and open to the public.
On a cold winter day, a month after the Battle of the Bulge, Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds ordered all 1,200 American POW’s to fall out and told the Nazi officer, “We are all Jews here,” refusing to back down and saving the lives of the Jewish soldiers under his command. Pastor Edmonds will speak about lessons from his father and how the story was discovered more than 40 years after it occurred. Roddie Edmonds was posthumously recognized as Righteous Amongst the Nations by Yad Vashem, Israel. He has also been recommended for the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Congressional Gold Medal. Other honors include the Medal of Valor from the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Yehi-Or Award from the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous.
Pastor Edmonds is Senior Pastor of Piney Grove Baptist Church in Maryville, Tenn. and is the founder of the Roddie’s Code and the Roddie Edmonds Foundation, organizations dedicated to extending the legacy and lessons of his father for generations to come. He is also an inspirational speaker and leadership mentor.
WHAT: Roddie’s Code: A Lone Soldier Saves Jewish POWs from the Nazis
WHEN: Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 11:15 a.m.
WHERE: MDC’s Homestead Campus, Bldg. F, Room F222
500 College Terrace, Homestead
For more information, please contact Randall Kaufman, Dean of Faculty and Student Services Homestead Campus, 305-237-5101, rkaufma1@mdc.edu.