Donald Trump, March 2, 2026, White House East Room,

Congressional Medal of Honor Ceremony for Master Sergeant Roddy Edmonds.

On Monday, March 2, President Donald Trump posthumously presented the Congressional Medal of Honor to Pastor Chris Edmonds, Sergeant Edmonds’ son. The Medal is the highest honor that the United States can confer. The Medal’s Citation reads, “For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.”

Pastor Edmonds kindly invited me to join him, his family, and friends for the ceremony. It was a special privilege.  I have been a supporter of Pastor Edmonds and the effort for over six years.

Pastor Edmonds’ father had been a Nazi POW during WWII. He was the commanding non-com of 1200 American POWs. Edmonds saved the lives of over 200 Jewish American fellow prisoners of war from certain death, risking his own life. He defiantly refused to segregate the Jews for the Nazi Commandant. With a German luger held against his head, Edmonds stared the Nazi in the eyes.  It was a bitterly cold January morning in 1945, Edmonds courageously told the Nazi Commandant, “We are all Jews here.”

The Nazi backed down.  To get to the Jews, the Nazis would have to kill every American there.

Yad Vashem has uniquely recognized Sergeant Edmonds as a “Righteous Among the Nations” for his actions.

I took my seat in the surprisingly small East Room of the White House, where so many historical events of American life have taken place.

The room was packed with guests, political and societal leaders, multiple ranking uniforms, more than a few shoulders heavy with two-plus stars, T.V. cameras, and awe.

On each chair was a program with the Presidential Seal embossed on the front.

I read the program as I awaited the entrance of the President.

The narrative of courage, the key words of American inclusiveness, “We are all Jews here,” was not part of the Citation.

The Citation reads in part:

“On the evening of January 26, 1945, the Germans announced that only Jewish-American prisoners would fall out for roll call the following morning, at the threat of execution. Master Sergeant Edmonds quickly understood that segregation of more than 200 Jewish-American prisoners of war would likely result in their persecution and possibly death, so he directed his senior leaders to have all 1,200 American prisoners present themselves for roll call.  The following morning, the Nazi Commandant became incredulous after realizing that so many Americans were standing in formation. Master Sergeant Edmonds bravely resisted his fury while also recounting the rights afforded to all prisoners under the Geneva Convention.  Still enraged, the Commandant removed his pistol, pressed it hard against Master Sergeant Edmonds’ forehead between his eyes, and demanded that he order all Jewish American prisoners to step forward, or he would be shot.  With unwavering courage at the risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty, Master Sergeant Edmonds fearlessly held his ground, refusing to concede…

We all stood as President Trump entered and approached the podium. Our heads bowed as Chaplain (Major General) William Green Jr. delivered the non-denominational invocation.

President Trump spoke.  He spoke about the Iranian war, explaining it succinctly.  The Iranians had already developed long-range ballistic missiles capable of hitting Europe.  They were actively developing, we later learned, eleven dirty nuclear bombs that could be fitted to the missiles.  Each dirty bomb, with the power of the 1945 Hiroshima bomb, could kill 20,000-100,000 people.

General Gordon R. Sullivan, the 32nd Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army (1991–1995), put it plainly, “Hope was not and is not a strategy.”

President Trump acted.

The President’s words turned to Master Sergeant Edmonds. He said without equivocation, unlike the Citation’s text, the Nazis were not threatening execution if their orders were not obeyed.  The Nazis were going to execute anyone who disobeyed.

The next morning, every American POW was assembled and awaited the Nazi Major. The Nazi was enraged, President Trump shared. He stood in front of Sergeant Edmonds, screaming louder and louder, “They can not all be Jews.”

Edmonds stared back into “the raging face of evil and fearlessly said, ‘We are all Jews here.”

My heart soared. President Trump, despite the wording of the Citation, told the true story of Roddy’s courage.  Roddy refused to separate out the Jewish American POWs. He, no doubt, would have refused to separate out Hindu American POWs or Catholic American POWs if the red-faced Nazi monster demanded he do so.

“We are all Jews here,” he repeated as the barrel of the Luger pressed hard into his forehead.  We are all Americans here was the clear message.  If the Nazis wanted to kill the Jews, they would have to kill everyone.  Edmonds told the Commandant the war would be over soon. He would be hunted down as a war criminal.

The Nazi lowered his gun and slunk away.

At the risk of his own life, Sergeant Edmonds had faced down evil, not with hope alone but with determination, courage, and faith molded by his Evangelical roots.

The next day, March 3, a second Congressional Medal of Honor ceremony was held at Ft. Myer under the auspices of the Secretary of the Army and the Army Chief of Staff.  They, too, had a program printed using the same wording as the Citation.  They too recounted the story of Master Sergeant Roddy Edmonds’ bravery. They, too, as President Trump had the day before in the White House, specifically quoted Edmonds’ words, “We are all Jews here.”

That evening, it was the conclusion of Purim.  A world away, Haman, the Iranian Amalekite, was being destroyed by the combined might of the United States and the State of Israel, together.

Jerry Klinger is the President of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation

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