Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds Congressional Gold Medal Act
Bill: S.1134 | Sponsor: Sen. Blackburn, Marsha (R-TN)
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds Congressional Gold Medal Act
This bill provides for the posthumous award of a Congressional Gold Medal to Roddie Edmonds in recognition of his achievements and heroic actions during World War II.

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Master Sergeant Rodrick 
 ``Roddie'' Edmonds in recognition of his heroic actions during World 
                                War II.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds 
Congressional Gold Medal Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Rodrick W. Edmonds (in this Act referred to as ``Roddie 
        Edmonds'' or ``Edmonds'') was born in 1919 in South Knoxville, 
        Tennessee, and graduated from Knoxville High School in 1938.
            (2) Roddie Edmonds was a Master Sergeant in the United 
        States Army and a member of the 422nd Infantry Regiment while 
        serving during World War II.
            (3) Roddie Edmonds landed in Europe in 1944 and fought to 
        the border between Belgium and Germany. In December of 1944, 
        while fighting in the Battle of the Bulge, Edmonds was captured 
        by Nazi forces and detained in Stalag IX-A, a prisoner of war 
        camp in Ziegenhain, Germany.
            (4) Stalag IX-A was a site used to identify, segregate, and 
        remove Jewish soldiers from the general population of prisoners 
        of war and many of the Jewish soldiers who were so removed were 
        sent to labor camps or murdered. Members of the Armed Forces 
        were warned of this policy and aware that their fellow 
        servicemen could be at risk.
            (5) As the senior noncommissioned officer in Stalag IX-A, 
        Master Sergeant Edmonds was responsible for 1,275 members of 
        the Armed Forces at the camp. Approximately 1 month after the 
        date on which Edmonds was detained, Edmonds was directed to 
        order the Jewish-American soldiers under his command to fall 
        out in order to separate the Jewish-American soldiers from 
        their fellow prisoners.
            (6) Disregarding the orders of the Nazis, Roddie Edmonds 
        commanded all of his men to fall out and, the following 
        morning, all of the 1,275 members of the Armed Forces under the 
        command of Edmonds stood outside of their prison barracks.
            (7) Upon seeing the soldiers, a German officer angrily 
        shouted, ``They cannot all be Jews!'', to which Edmonds 
        replied, ``We are all Jews here''.
            (8) The German officer took out his pistol and pointed the 
        gun at the head of Edmonds, but Edmonds refused to identify the 
        Jewish soldiers. Instead, Edmonds responded, ``According to the 
        Geneva Convention, we only have to give our name, rank, and 
        serial number. If you shoot me, you will have to shoot all of 
        us and, after the war, you will be tried for war crimes''.
            (9) The German officer turned away from Edmonds and the 
        other soldiers and left the scene. The actions taken by Edmonds 
        saved the lives of approximately 200 Jewish-American members of 
        the Armed Forces.
            (10) Lester Tanner, a Jewish-American member of the Armed 
        Forces also captured during the Battle of the Bulge, witnessed 
        the incident and stated that, ``There was no question in my 
        mind, or that of Master Sergeant Edmonds, that the Germans were 
        removing the Jewish prisoners from the general population at 
        great risk to their survival. The U.S. Army's standing command 
        to its ranking officers in POW camps is that you resist the 
        enemy and care for the safety of your men to the greatest 
        extent possible. Master Sergeant Edmonds, at the risk of his 
        immediate death, defied the Germans with the unexpected 
        consequences that the Jewish prisoners were saved''.
            (11) Edmonds survived 100 days in captivity and returned 
        home after the war. Later, Edmonds served the United States in 
        Korea as a member of the National Guard. Edmonds died in 1985, 
        but never told his family or anyone else of his brave actions 
        outside the barracks of Stalag IX-A during World War II.
            (12) Edmonds was posthumously recognized by Yad Vashem, the 
        World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, as ``Righteous 
        Among the Nations'', the first member of the Armed Forces and 1 
        of only 5 people of the United States to be so recognized. 
        Avner Shalev, Chairman of Yad Vashem, announced the selection 
        of Edmonds by saying, ``Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds seemed 
        like an ordinary American soldier, but he had an extraordinary 
        sense of responsibility and dedication to his fellow human 
        beings. . . . The choices and actions of Master Sergeant 
        Edmonds set an example for his fellow American soldiers as they 
        stood united against the barbaric evil of the Nazis''.

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Award Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of Representatives 
and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate 
arrangements for the posthumous award, on behalf of Congress, of a gold 
medal of appropriate design to Roddie Edmonds in recognition of his 
achievements and heroic actions during World War II.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purpose of the award referred to 
in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (referred to in this 
Act as the ``Secretary'') shall strike a gold medal with suitable 
emblems, devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Secretary.
    (c) Presentation and Award of Medal.--The gold medal referred to in 
subsection (a) shall be presented, and following the presentation 
awarded, to the next of kin of Roddie Edmonds.

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold 
medal struck under section 3 under such regulations as the Secretary 
may prescribe, at a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, 
including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead 
expenses, and the cost of the gold medal.

SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.

    (a) National Medals.--The medals struck under this Act are national 
medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
    (b) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of sections 5134 and 5136 of 
title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be 
considered to be numismatic items.
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