Following the Footsteps of My Father

Part of this extraordinary story of bravery and leadership took place in WW II at a Nazi POW camp in Bad Orb (a health spa) about 10 or 12 miles from where I was stationed in Gelnhausen as a mechanized infantry platoon leader in1967-68 with the 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Armored Division. I visited Bad Orb several times as 4 of my fellow officers rented a fabulous house there with an indoor-swimming pool. Watch the 14 minute video at the end of the introductory story about Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds who saved the lives of 200 of his Jewish-American POW soldiers.






The Germans captured more than 20,000 GIs during the Battle of the Bulge. The men of the 422nd Regiment were marched some fifty kilometers to Gerolstein, Germany where they were loaded into box cars, 60 to 70 men per car, with virtually no food or water. They spent four days and nights traveling to Stalag IXB in Bad Orb, Germany, arriving on Christmas Day. After several weeks in Bad Orb, the American POWs were divided into three groups – officers, non-commissioned officers (NCOs), and enlisted men. The NCOs were taken to Stalag IXA in Ziegenhain. There were 1,292 men in this group.

The highest ranking NCO was Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds from Knoxville, Tennessee. Upon their arrival in Ziegenhain, the commandant of Stalag IXA, Major Siegmann, ordered all Jewish POWs to present themselves the next morning. Master Sgt. Edmonds ordered all 1,292 American POWs to stand in formation outside of their barracks.