What do you think?
Rate this book
No Surrender Young Readers’ Edition: A Father, a Son, and an Extraordinary Act of Heroism – The True Story of an American Hero at Stalag IXA for Kids
The epic true story of Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds, an American hero who risked his life in the final days of World War II to save others—now in a thrilling young readers’ edition.
During the infamous World War II Battle of the Bulge, Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds was captured, along with his infantrymen. The Nazis took him and his men to Stalag IXA, a notorious prisoner of war camp in Germany, where he was the highest-ranking American soldier.
He showed great courage in the face of danger, refusing to feed into the cruelty toward his fellow soldiers, many of whom were Jewish. Through his deep spirituality, endurance, ability to lead, and bravery, Roddie saved hundreds of U.S. military men. And his heroism continues to impact thousands of lives today.
In this young readers’ edition, which includes authentic photographs, readers will discover one of many unsung military heroes of our time—a hero who embodies the power of compassion, goodness, and ultimately, hope.
During the infamous World War II Battle of the Bulge, Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds was captured, along with his infantrymen. The Nazis took him and his men to Stalag IXA, a notorious prisoner of war camp in Germany, where he was the highest-ranking American soldier.
He showed great courage in the face of danger, refusing to feed into the cruelty toward his fellow soldiers, many of whom were Jewish. Through his deep spirituality, endurance, ability to lead, and bravery, Roddie saved hundreds of U.S. military men. And his heroism continues to impact thousands of lives today.
In this young readers’ edition, which includes authentic photographs, readers will discover one of many unsung military heroes of our time—a hero who embodies the power of compassion, goodness, and ultimately, hope.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published October 8, 2019
341 people are currently reading
2577 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 142 reviews
August 20, 2019
Decades after his father passed away, during a random Google search, Chris Edmonds discovers that his father is a hero.
Roddie Edmonds was a Staff Sargent assigned to the 422nd Infantry Regiment of the 106th Infantry Division, who were shipped to Europe. They were stationed outside Saint. Vith near the Allied front, a position that was supposed to be light action, ideal for seasoning soldiers who hadn’t experienced combat before. Instead, they ended up where the Germans concentrated their forces. Hitler’s army readied their final military offensive, what would later be called the Battle of the Bulge. This was the 2nd most lethal battle fought by US military in history.
The nonstop fighting started December 16th, and Edmond’s troops were captured by Nazis on December 19th. The Nazis had been massacring surrendering, unarmed men—killing soldiers, civilians, and POWs. From the moment the men were taken prisoner, it became clear that the Nazi soldiers had no intention of abiding by the Geneva Conventions—the International Standards for Treatment in War—including prohibitions against violence, cruel treatment, torture…and murder. (Incidentally, I learned that Germany’s actions, their intentional cruelty despite having signed the earlier Geneva Conventions, were a direct cause of the expansions of the Geneva Conventions articles in 1949!)
Chris Edmonds had his father’s diaries from the war, the notebooks he’d written in while he was in the SS run POW camp—but at some point his father had torn out multiple pages. There were chopped off sentences and incomplete paragraphs, like “I enjoyed my last meal on the evening of the 17th, because the morning of” and then NOTHING! Missing pages, and then a paragraph that seemed unrelated, “…the reason I am writing this, mainly, is to relieve my mind, and while some of the events are fresh in my mind.”
Chris had always wanted to know more, but it took on critical importance the day he read that 300 WWII veterans were passing away on a daily basis. Eventually they would all be gone, and the information would be lost forever. No one would know what happened.
Chris starts on an odyssey to track down the remaining men that his father commanded, to find out what happened before it was too late. What Chris finds out is that his father is in fact a hero—a hero by ANY definition or accounting.
WOW, what a book! It really made an impact on me—I don’t know if it’s just that, like Roddie Edmonds, these heroes don’t go around telling their tales, and so we don’t KNOW this stuff, or if I just haven’t read the right histories, but this book was shocking, heartbreaking, and inspiring. I had no idea about the treatment that these POWs received at the hands of the Nazis—it was literally the same as the concentration camp victims.
Also, the descriptions of the battle are terrifying. Chris has done an excellent job telling a thrilling and suspenseful story, and clearly he wouldn’t have been able to without the willingness of the survivors to relive their memories. What hit me so hard was that this was all true.
There are several instances where Roddie Edmonds’ calm leadership saved lives, and more than one where he risked his life—with a literal gun to his head—to keep his men safe. I hate to give more details and spoil the story—but I was riveted. I tore through this book in one night, unable to put it down because I had to know what happened. The bravery of these men is incredible—the ones who fought, the ones who died, the ones who survived the POW camp. The ones who shared their stories, their willingness to go over what had to be horribly difficult memories in order to bring Roddie Edmonds’ heroism to light is immensely brave as well. It’s nice to know there are still real heroes out there!
Roddie Edmonds was a Staff Sargent assigned to the 422nd Infantry Regiment of the 106th Infantry Division, who were shipped to Europe. They were stationed outside Saint. Vith near the Allied front, a position that was supposed to be light action, ideal for seasoning soldiers who hadn’t experienced combat before. Instead, they ended up where the Germans concentrated their forces. Hitler’s army readied their final military offensive, what would later be called the Battle of the Bulge. This was the 2nd most lethal battle fought by US military in history.
The nonstop fighting started December 16th, and Edmond’s troops were captured by Nazis on December 19th. The Nazis had been massacring surrendering, unarmed men—killing soldiers, civilians, and POWs. From the moment the men were taken prisoner, it became clear that the Nazi soldiers had no intention of abiding by the Geneva Conventions—the International Standards for Treatment in War—including prohibitions against violence, cruel treatment, torture…and murder. (Incidentally, I learned that Germany’s actions, their intentional cruelty despite having signed the earlier Geneva Conventions, were a direct cause of the expansions of the Geneva Conventions articles in 1949!)
Chris Edmonds had his father’s diaries from the war, the notebooks he’d written in while he was in the SS run POW camp—but at some point his father had torn out multiple pages. There were chopped off sentences and incomplete paragraphs, like “I enjoyed my last meal on the evening of the 17th, because the morning of” and then NOTHING! Missing pages, and then a paragraph that seemed unrelated, “…the reason I am writing this, mainly, is to relieve my mind, and while some of the events are fresh in my mind.”
Chris had always wanted to know more, but it took on critical importance the day he read that 300 WWII veterans were passing away on a daily basis. Eventually they would all be gone, and the information would be lost forever. No one would know what happened.
Chris starts on an odyssey to track down the remaining men that his father commanded, to find out what happened before it was too late. What Chris finds out is that his father is in fact a hero—a hero by ANY definition or accounting.
WOW, what a book! It really made an impact on me—I don’t know if it’s just that, like Roddie Edmonds, these heroes don’t go around telling their tales, and so we don’t KNOW this stuff, or if I just haven’t read the right histories, but this book was shocking, heartbreaking, and inspiring. I had no idea about the treatment that these POWs received at the hands of the Nazis—it was literally the same as the concentration camp victims.
Also, the descriptions of the battle are terrifying. Chris has done an excellent job telling a thrilling and suspenseful story, and clearly he wouldn’t have been able to without the willingness of the survivors to relive their memories. What hit me so hard was that this was all true.
There are several instances where Roddie Edmonds’ calm leadership saved lives, and more than one where he risked his life—with a literal gun to his head—to keep his men safe. I hate to give more details and spoil the story—but I was riveted. I tore through this book in one night, unable to put it down because I had to know what happened. The bravery of these men is incredible—the ones who fought, the ones who died, the ones who survived the POW camp. The ones who shared their stories, their willingness to go over what had to be horribly difficult memories in order to bring Roddie Edmonds’ heroism to light is immensely brave as well. It’s nice to know there are still real heroes out there!
Read
December 16, 2019This book is part biography, part detective story, part history, and part a story of heroism and of faith.
I was a kid during the fifties, born six years after the war ended. The economic and cultural aftermath of WW II surrounded me as I was growing up--kids regularly played good guys vs. "Nazis" (not differentiating them from Germans) and "Japs" as parents looked on in approval. And yet those older male relatives who had survived being soldiers or sailors in the war talked little about it, or didn't say anything at all. One friend's father drank himself to death, after being one of the first in at a death camp, an experience that shattered him, his family pieced together later. My grandfather, who signed up as a kid in his middle teens, using his older brother's ID so he could get away with it, had a hidden cache of extremely gruesome Kodak black and whites, taken after his naval units retook Iwo Jima and a couple of other blood-drenched islands.
Edmonds' father was another of these, staying silent and stoic through the remainder of his life. According to his son, pretty much all he'd say was that he and his fellow prisoners of war were humiliated.
But after his father's death, Edmonds took a look at what little was left, mainly an extremely cryptic diary, decided for his children's sake to uncover the whole story, and so began the detective work.
The account is colorful and gripping as he tracks down surviving members of his father's fellow prisoners, and men of his unit. Their stories are woven into his father's biography, creating a thought-provoking picture of ordinary American men swept into the meat-grinder of war. Those who survived did not come back the same as they had been.
Edmonds sometimes dips into fictionalizing, putting in dialogue and thoughts behind Nazi leaders, but he's not writing an academic text, so these dramatic additions can be forgiven when set against the fascinating whole. There are plentiful snapshots included, which add to the overall canvas.
Fight, capture, and then the grim reality of POW life in disintegrating Germany as men tried to hang onto their humanity through the few small acts and decisions they were permitted to make. One of the grimmest moments was when the Germans forced the prisoners to out the Jews among them, knowing what was going to happen to them, leading to Edmonds' act of heroism.
After liberation, which was another exercise in agonizing tension, they would discover stockpiled Red Cross packages never given to them--and their letters home never sent. There was no debriefing in those days, or offers of counseling. They were shipped home to pick up their lives again, including those like Edmonds, who had gotten "Dear John" letters before, or during their service. (When the writer found out he had a half-sister by his father's first marriage, he was able to connect with her.
Edmonds brings everything up to the present, including emotional evolution as well as recovery. It's an absorbing book, depicting both the best and the worst of the human spirit.
A content warning: it's written about a man of deep faith by another equally faithful, so if readers are offended or upset by Bible quotes and Christian thought, they probably should take a pass.
Copy provided by NetGalley
I was a kid during the fifties, born six years after the war ended. The economic and cultural aftermath of WW II surrounded me as I was growing up--kids regularly played good guys vs. "Nazis" (not differentiating them from Germans) and "Japs" as parents looked on in approval. And yet those older male relatives who had survived being soldiers or sailors in the war talked little about it, or didn't say anything at all. One friend's father drank himself to death, after being one of the first in at a death camp, an experience that shattered him, his family pieced together later. My grandfather, who signed up as a kid in his middle teens, using his older brother's ID so he could get away with it, had a hidden cache of extremely gruesome Kodak black and whites, taken after his naval units retook Iwo Jima and a couple of other blood-drenched islands.
Edmonds' father was another of these, staying silent and stoic through the remainder of his life. According to his son, pretty much all he'd say was that he and his fellow prisoners of war were humiliated.
But after his father's death, Edmonds took a look at what little was left, mainly an extremely cryptic diary, decided for his children's sake to uncover the whole story, and so began the detective work.
The account is colorful and gripping as he tracks down surviving members of his father's fellow prisoners, and men of his unit. Their stories are woven into his father's biography, creating a thought-provoking picture of ordinary American men swept into the meat-grinder of war. Those who survived did not come back the same as they had been.
Edmonds sometimes dips into fictionalizing, putting in dialogue and thoughts behind Nazi leaders, but he's not writing an academic text, so these dramatic additions can be forgiven when set against the fascinating whole. There are plentiful snapshots included, which add to the overall canvas.
Fight, capture, and then the grim reality of POW life in disintegrating Germany as men tried to hang onto their humanity through the few small acts and decisions they were permitted to make. One of the grimmest moments was when the Germans forced the prisoners to out the Jews among them, knowing what was going to happen to them, leading to Edmonds' act of heroism.
After liberation, which was another exercise in agonizing tension, they would discover stockpiled Red Cross packages never given to them--and their letters home never sent. There was no debriefing in those days, or offers of counseling. They were shipped home to pick up their lives again, including those like Edmonds, who had gotten "Dear John" letters before, or during their service. (When the writer found out he had a half-sister by his father's first marriage, he was able to connect with her.
Edmonds brings everything up to the present, including emotional evolution as well as recovery. It's an absorbing book, depicting both the best and the worst of the human spirit.
A content warning: it's written about a man of deep faith by another equally faithful, so if readers are offended or upset by Bible quotes and Christian thought, they probably should take a pass.
Copy provided by NetGalley
December 1, 2025
This book is very meaningful to me for two reasons. Firstly, one of the men whose lives Roddie Edmonds impacted with his incredible bravery in WWII is someone my future husband knew well, and whose story as a POW I was told only in the broadest of details once.
And secondly, most intriguingly, I came to find the full story of said Jewish American POW helped by Roddie Edmonds in the same manner Christopher Edmonds came to discover the story of his father: Google told me. I had found out about Sergeant Edmonds casually, when the XVIII Airborne Corps posted on Twitter about him during commemorations of the anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, with the intriguing title of "We are all Jews here." Of course, being a WWII history lover, I had to learn more and Googled Roddie Edmonds to learn more. And Googled him again just a little while back, when I was telling my fiancé about my favourite rescue stories from WWII, and this time I found an article on a newspaper in which I was ambushed by the appearance in it of the former POW my fiancé had mentioned to me, and my shocked reaction was to text my future husband excitedly that "He's amongst those Roddie Edmonds saved!"
I'm still amazed at having read here that Chris Edmonds had the same experience. Life is so surprising!
Naturally, I had to read this book right away when I saw he'd written about his dad, and so I have, taking pictures of all the passages where the POW my future husband knew is mentioned, appears, or talks in interviews with the author, all of which I sent to him with my comments. It's been a very uplifting experience, one of the best in my reading life. Now, as I've told my future husband, my only wish is to have a paper copy of this book (I only have it on Kindle), with a photograph of the POW who owes so much to Roddie that I can't name publicly here inserted inside, and autographed by Chris Edmonds. Who knows? Maybe even meet him one day...
And secondly, most intriguingly, I came to find the full story of said Jewish American POW helped by Roddie Edmonds in the same manner Christopher Edmonds came to discover the story of his father: Google told me. I had found out about Sergeant Edmonds casually, when the XVIII Airborne Corps posted on Twitter about him during commemorations of the anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, with the intriguing title of "We are all Jews here." Of course, being a WWII history lover, I had to learn more and Googled Roddie Edmonds to learn more. And Googled him again just a little while back, when I was telling my fiancé about my favourite rescue stories from WWII, and this time I found an article on a newspaper in which I was ambushed by the appearance in it of the former POW my fiancé had mentioned to me, and my shocked reaction was to text my future husband excitedly that "He's amongst those Roddie Edmonds saved!"
I'm still amazed at having read here that Chris Edmonds had the same experience. Life is so surprising!
Naturally, I had to read this book right away when I saw he'd written about his dad, and so I have, taking pictures of all the passages where the POW my future husband knew is mentioned, appears, or talks in interviews with the author, all of which I sent to him with my comments. It's been a very uplifting experience, one of the best in my reading life. Now, as I've told my future husband, my only wish is to have a paper copy of this book (I only have it on Kindle), with a photograph of the POW who owes so much to Roddie that I can't name publicly here inserted inside, and autographed by Chris Edmonds. Who knows? Maybe even meet him one day...
December 12, 2023
Sergeant, you will order the Jews to step forward, or I will shoot you right now
These are the words of a German major, who threathened to shoot Roddie Edmonds, the senior noncommissioned officer in charge of a group of American POW's after he refused to identify Jewish soldiers. For this he was posthumously awarded the Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem, Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust.
The author, Chris Edmonds, is the son of Roddie Edmonds. When his daughter wanted to write a school paper on the deeds of her grandfather, Chris never imagined his life would take an unexpected turn. Like many WW2 veterans, his father never talked to his family about his wartime experiences. Chris had read his war time diaries, knew his father was captured during the Battle of the Bulge and spent the rest of the year as a POW in German captivity. Thanks to his daugther, he decides to learn more about his father's experiences. What he didn't know, but soon found out, was that his father saved many jewish POW's. This sets in motion a number of events trough which he embarks on an unexpected journey of discovery.
What follows is the story of Chris Edmonds, tyring to piece together the wartime experiences of his father. When during the Battle of the Bulge, German soldiers overran the American front line, they captured thousands of GIs, including his father. Chris paints a vivid picture of the capture, the grueling marches, and the inhumane conditions within German POW camps. The narrative not only focuses on his father, but also his fellow POW's, many of them Jewish. By telling the collective experiences of the captured GIs, he showcases the resilience and strength forged in their adversity, honoring not just his father's bravery but the shared heroism of those who endured the war as American POW's.
I liked this story. By focussing on the human aspects, it offered me a unique perspective into the lives of everyday individuals who played extraordinary roles but might not have found a place in the broader historical narrative.
If you like to know more about the experience of American POW's, I can recommend you the following book:
The Longest Winter: The Battle of the Bulge and the Epic Story of World War II's Most Decorated Platoon
A few other books about everyday individuals and their acts of heroism during WW II:
A Train Near Magdeburg―The Holocaust, the survivors, and the American soldiers who saved them
The Storm on Our Shores: One Island, Two Soldiers, and the Forgotten Battle of World War II
Flags of Our Fathers
These are the words of a German major, who threathened to shoot Roddie Edmonds, the senior noncommissioned officer in charge of a group of American POW's after he refused to identify Jewish soldiers. For this he was posthumously awarded the Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem, Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust.
The author, Chris Edmonds, is the son of Roddie Edmonds. When his daughter wanted to write a school paper on the deeds of her grandfather, Chris never imagined his life would take an unexpected turn. Like many WW2 veterans, his father never talked to his family about his wartime experiences. Chris had read his war time diaries, knew his father was captured during the Battle of the Bulge and spent the rest of the year as a POW in German captivity. Thanks to his daugther, he decides to learn more about his father's experiences. What he didn't know, but soon found out, was that his father saved many jewish POW's. This sets in motion a number of events trough which he embarks on an unexpected journey of discovery.
What follows is the story of Chris Edmonds, tyring to piece together the wartime experiences of his father. When during the Battle of the Bulge, German soldiers overran the American front line, they captured thousands of GIs, including his father. Chris paints a vivid picture of the capture, the grueling marches, and the inhumane conditions within German POW camps. The narrative not only focuses on his father, but also his fellow POW's, many of them Jewish. By telling the collective experiences of the captured GIs, he showcases the resilience and strength forged in their adversity, honoring not just his father's bravery but the shared heroism of those who endured the war as American POW's.
I liked this story. By focussing on the human aspects, it offered me a unique perspective into the lives of everyday individuals who played extraordinary roles but might not have found a place in the broader historical narrative.
If you like to know more about the experience of American POW's, I can recommend you the following book:
The Longest Winter: The Battle of the Bulge and the Epic Story of World War II's Most Decorated Platoon
A few other books about everyday individuals and their acts of heroism during WW II:
A Train Near Magdeburg―The Holocaust, the survivors, and the American soldiers who saved them
The Storm on Our Shores: One Island, Two Soldiers, and the Forgotten Battle of World War II
Flags of Our Fathers
August 25, 2019
Chris Edmonds discovers, in serendipitous fashion, that his father was a war hero during his time in a Nazi POW camp. He sets out to discover the role his father played in saving the lives of Jewish POWs and it’s last impact years later. Roddie’s story was fascinating, and there were quite a few historical facts mentioned in this book about other areas of the war that were new to me.
The first tow or three chapters were fairly clumsily written and I felt like they were disjointed. But then the story picks up, the writing improves, and I was riveted, especially for the last half. I do wish there had been more follow up for certain characters. I felt like Roddie’s actions were incredibly impressive and this book is so sincere in how it handles the story.
I enjoyed the scope of the book, it’s point of view, and the story. Thank you Netgalley for a free digital advanced copy!
The first tow or three chapters were fairly clumsily written and I felt like they were disjointed. But then the story picks up, the writing improves, and I was riveted, especially for the last half. I do wish there had been more follow up for certain characters. I felt like Roddie’s actions were incredibly impressive and this book is so sincere in how it handles the story.
I enjoyed the scope of the book, it’s point of view, and the story. Thank you Netgalley for a free digital advanced copy!
August 18, 2019
This war story is among the best I’ve read for its sincerity, graphic descriptions, and lessons as remembered by its aged survivors. Chris Edmonds, a Tennessee pastor, prompted by a daughter who wanted to write a school paper about her paternal grandfather, realized he knew very little about his own World War II veteran father. It started a frenzied search through his father’s journals, hunting down living buddies of his father’s from the war, traveling many miles to interview them, and putting it all together into a tribute to his father, Roddie Edmonds.
The author perused brief journal notes in his father’s own handwriting. There were bare facts, terse descriptions, and fragmented sentences, written in personal shorthand and scribbled in haste. He knew his father was captured by the Nazis and sent to brutal POW camps, but it was the stories he was told by living survivors that really brought home the fact that his father was a revered hero, all because of two episodes. In both, he had defied brutal camp supervisors, his bold defiance saving the lives of his fellow prisoners while almost certainly inviting his own death.
Refusing to follow orders in a prison camp run by maniacal Nazi thugs was a sure way to get executed. Two times Roddie, the leader of the prisoner group based on his rank and seniority, stood firmly in front a an infuriated Nazi madman and refused to follow his orders, once with the officer’s Luger pistol aimed at his forehead. His men stood defiantly behind him while secretly fearing what would happen to him. As it turns out, nothing happened, either to him or his men.
The biggest part of the book tells the frightening story of war, the fighting, bombing, shelling, and hand-to-hand combat and overwhelming terror of facing death at every turn. The stench, hunger, and debilitating cold are constant companions. The GIs are finally overrun and thousands of prisoners are force-marched to inhospitable prison camps that are hellholes with no comfort or food, and brutal assaults are constantly rained upon the hapless men. Through it all, Edmonds discovers that his father, Roddie, is an inspiration to all and a spiritual leader that the men are devoted to.
Edmonds tells a heartwarming story amid the horrors of war and imprisonment. He goes on to give updates of their life after they are freed and return home. I found the book to be inspirational and heartwarming. Real heroes are those who are behind the spotlight as they perform their heroic acts. So it was with Roddie Edmonds.
May 23, 2022
This is a remarkable story written by the son of a World War II veteran who embarked on a quest to uncover the mysteries surrounding his father's heroic acts while held at a German POW camp. A man who was reserved and humble by nature, he never sought praise or notoriety following the war. Although he kept a journal, portions that possibly contained details regarding his heroic acts were missing and he never spoke of these events until the day of this death.
When his son learned that there was far more to his father's service than he had known, he traveled the country for several years, conducting research, interviewing, and befriending men who served alongside his father. Eventually he learned that through incredible acts of selflessness and heroism, his father was instrumental in saving the lives of potentially thousands of POW's.
When his son learned that there was far more to his father's service than he had known, he traveled the country for several years, conducting research, interviewing, and befriending men who served alongside his father. Eventually he learned that through incredible acts of selflessness and heroism, his father was instrumental in saving the lives of potentially thousands of POW's.
August 19, 2019
A testament of faith
I loved the passages from the word of God that Chris used throughout his book.
The story of his father Roddie Edmonds and his father's fellow soldiers was an inspirational story. It was a story of survival and a story of faith. A story of a soldier that put his own life on the line to save the lives of others.
It was a story of life as a soldier at the front and life in POW camps. It told the story of the savagery of the Nazi Army and the faith and determination of the capture U.S. Forces. How he was responsible for saving over 200 American Jewish soldiers and later 1200 American servicemen from the death march as the war was ending.
It is a testimony to all the POWs he served with that they kept their dignity and helped each other, the strong helping the week. One of my favorite parts was the Christmas in the boxcar. They were locked in a small boxcar, cold, hungry, thirsty and tired, but somehow they still were able to celebrate Christmas by praying and singing hymns.
I was impressed that after the war they went on with their lives and lived good lives preferring to put the war behind them and go on with life. It did give them a new appreciation of everything we all take for granted. Little things like a cup of coffee, a good meal, and big things like freedom and a loving family. Their faith was tested and they never lost their faith.
I enjoyed reading this book and the information it contained. Books are often written about the war and the concentration camps, however, fewer are written about the U.S. Soldier serving in German POW camps. I would definitely recommend this book.
I loved the passages from the word of God that Chris used throughout his book.
The story of his father Roddie Edmonds and his father's fellow soldiers was an inspirational story. It was a story of survival and a story of faith. A story of a soldier that put his own life on the line to save the lives of others.
It was a story of life as a soldier at the front and life in POW camps. It told the story of the savagery of the Nazi Army and the faith and determination of the capture U.S. Forces. How he was responsible for saving over 200 American Jewish soldiers and later 1200 American servicemen from the death march as the war was ending.
It is a testimony to all the POWs he served with that they kept their dignity and helped each other, the strong helping the week. One of my favorite parts was the Christmas in the boxcar. They were locked in a small boxcar, cold, hungry, thirsty and tired, but somehow they still were able to celebrate Christmas by praying and singing hymns.
I was impressed that after the war they went on with their lives and lived good lives preferring to put the war behind them and go on with life. It did give them a new appreciation of everything we all take for granted. Little things like a cup of coffee, a good meal, and big things like freedom and a loving family. Their faith was tested and they never lost their faith.
I enjoyed reading this book and the information it contained. Books are often written about the war and the concentration camps, however, fewer are written about the U.S. Soldier serving in German POW camps. I would definitely recommend this book.
August 19, 2019
When I started this book I was not sure that I wanted to finish it. The book begins with the writer's discovery of his father's service in WWII. The writer went into detail about how he found out about his father's war experiences. Like most WWII veterans, his father never spoke of his time in the war. However, once the book moved into a detailed account of his father, Roddie's, time in service, I was not able to put it down.
The book is a good example of a collection of personal narratives of those who served with Roddie. The writer spent months tracking down those who knew Roddie and preserving their stories. To a man, they remembered him as a great leader. One who had courage born of a deep faith.
On three occasions during Roddie's time a POW, his faith strengthened him and those who served under his command. He serves as a great example of a common man who acted in an extraordinary way when confronted with a desperate situation.
The authors last paragraphs sum up the book: "I guess that's what's most remarkable about my journey to discover what my father did in the Second World War--the realization that any one of us has the untapped potential to do something incredibly courageous. Not a day passes for me now when I don't marvel at this epiphany: we all have the potential to change the world simply by standing up for what's right."
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The book is a good example of a collection of personal narratives of those who served with Roddie. The writer spent months tracking down those who knew Roddie and preserving their stories. To a man, they remembered him as a great leader. One who had courage born of a deep faith.
On three occasions during Roddie's time a POW, his faith strengthened him and those who served under his command. He serves as a great example of a common man who acted in an extraordinary way when confronted with a desperate situation.
The authors last paragraphs sum up the book: "I guess that's what's most remarkable about my journey to discover what my father did in the Second World War--the realization that any one of us has the untapped potential to do something incredibly courageous. Not a day passes for me now when I don't marvel at this epiphany: we all have the potential to change the world simply by standing up for what's right."
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
August 20, 2019
I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley. I wasn't prepared to like this book so much. But it was great. If you want to know more about what life for the infantry soldier was like, read this book. If you want to discover how ordinary men can do extraordinary things when needed, read this book. If you want to read about an offspring's discovery that a parent was much, much more than what they experienced in their day-to-day life, read this book. You will not be disappointed and amazed at how quickly the book reads.
May 30, 2022
An absolutely amazing true story. Roddie was a real hero and his story shows the power of faith and character. Would make an incredible movie.
August 23, 2025
Very captivating , engaging and inspirational .
November 4, 2024
Most inspiring book I’ve read this year!
August 18, 2019
No Surrender – by Chris Edmonds and Douglas Century – HarperCollins Publisher 2019
Most of us never really know our parents’ true characters because they are the center of our world from the moment we enter it, dazzling us with their love. They introduce us to life itself, fulfill our needs and teach us how to navigate in the world. Recognizing them as individual human beings is rare because we simply do not get the opportunity to observe them in the moments that shaped them. No Surrender is the story of how Chris Edmonds discovered his father Rodney Edmonds’ uncommonly sterling character.
As a very young man, Rodney, aka “Roddie” enlisted in the US Army nine months before the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941. By January 1943, he has been promoted four times and is master sergeant communications chief. Two months later he is training some of the men he will later serve with at the Battle of the Bulge and during their containment in POW camps in Germany.
Chris Edmonds’ journey to his father’s past started with discovering a cigar box containing Roddie’s diary from the war years, prompted by his daughter Lauren’s desire to write about her grandfather for a school project. Like millions of others who fought in that war, Roddie had put away reminders of that experience and determined to live in the present. Combat had taught them there is no promise of tomorrow and your next breath could be your last, so appreciate NOW.
While Googling his father’s rank and name, expecting to be taken to a national war archive of some kind, Pastor Edmonds found instead a story about Richard Nixon. The former president was being shunned from buying an apartment in NYC and an attorney named Lester Tanner stepped in and sold his 12-room town house to Mr. Nixon, despite sharp political differences between the two men. In the article about his actions, Mr. Tanner mentioned that he was inspired by a brave officer, Roddie Edmonds, whose defiance of a POW camp commandant saved the lives of many men.
Despite this bombshell revelation, it was a few years before Chris actually focused on discovering his father’s wartime experience – life was busy! In the mid 1980s, he met with Lester Tanner in New York. Chris was stunned to hear Mr. Tanner declare that in his opinion Roddie Edmonds should get the Congressional Medal of Honor. What follows is a fascinating story of the teenaged and very young adult men who placed their lives in jeopardy during the Second World War.
No Surrender covers not only Roddie Edmonds’ story but those of the men he served with. This book should not be dismissed as just another WWII story because it is much more than that. It goes into depth about the men’s six-month experience in Europe – which seems much longer, given everything they endured – and gives more details than I have read elsewhere about the horrifying atrocities committed by German soldiers against the Allies, especially American GIs. It also extensively covers their recovery after their camp was liberated by Patton’s Third Army, the first POW camp liberated by the Allied Forces. The authors detail the refeeding of men who were 60 or more pounds underweight. Well-meaning people allowing them to gorge themselves on goodies learned that too much of a good thing could prove deadly. In subsequent POW and concentration camp liberations, they knew to limit food intake initially and concentrate on physical examinations and documenting experience, in preparation for war crime charges. No more platters of doughnuts served to starved men.
For his uncommon bravery in defying the German camp commandant not once but twice, Roddie Edmonds was eventually honored by Israel as Righteous Among the Nations, being the first American nominated for saving American Jews. Righteous are non-Jews who risk themselves in order to help a Jew. I don’t want to say in this review what Roddie did – it would ruin it for future readers of this book. Even without his WWII heroism, Roddie’s story is a great read – one of the millions of his generation who just got on with life despite the horrors he encountered in his young life and always chose to do what he saw as the right thing based on his faith in God.
I gave this book five stars because it is extremely well written and reads more like a thriller than a biography. Despite all the books I have read about World War II, I learned much in No Surrender. The authors’ detailed accounts of daily life for the American POWs in Germany were startling to me. A little more than half the book is dedicated to that. It is stunning to me that they could survive that, but then they came back home and readjusted to “normal” life. They did not seek nor expect high praise for their service, just did what they saw as their duty.
Most of us never really know our parents’ true characters because they are the center of our world from the moment we enter it, dazzling us with their love. They introduce us to life itself, fulfill our needs and teach us how to navigate in the world. Recognizing them as individual human beings is rare because we simply do not get the opportunity to observe them in the moments that shaped them. No Surrender is the story of how Chris Edmonds discovered his father Rodney Edmonds’ uncommonly sterling character.
As a very young man, Rodney, aka “Roddie” enlisted in the US Army nine months before the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941. By January 1943, he has been promoted four times and is master sergeant communications chief. Two months later he is training some of the men he will later serve with at the Battle of the Bulge and during their containment in POW camps in Germany.
Chris Edmonds’ journey to his father’s past started with discovering a cigar box containing Roddie’s diary from the war years, prompted by his daughter Lauren’s desire to write about her grandfather for a school project. Like millions of others who fought in that war, Roddie had put away reminders of that experience and determined to live in the present. Combat had taught them there is no promise of tomorrow and your next breath could be your last, so appreciate NOW.
While Googling his father’s rank and name, expecting to be taken to a national war archive of some kind, Pastor Edmonds found instead a story about Richard Nixon. The former president was being shunned from buying an apartment in NYC and an attorney named Lester Tanner stepped in and sold his 12-room town house to Mr. Nixon, despite sharp political differences between the two men. In the article about his actions, Mr. Tanner mentioned that he was inspired by a brave officer, Roddie Edmonds, whose defiance of a POW camp commandant saved the lives of many men.
Despite this bombshell revelation, it was a few years before Chris actually focused on discovering his father’s wartime experience – life was busy! In the mid 1980s, he met with Lester Tanner in New York. Chris was stunned to hear Mr. Tanner declare that in his opinion Roddie Edmonds should get the Congressional Medal of Honor. What follows is a fascinating story of the teenaged and very young adult men who placed their lives in jeopardy during the Second World War.
No Surrender covers not only Roddie Edmonds’ story but those of the men he served with. This book should not be dismissed as just another WWII story because it is much more than that. It goes into depth about the men’s six-month experience in Europe – which seems much longer, given everything they endured – and gives more details than I have read elsewhere about the horrifying atrocities committed by German soldiers against the Allies, especially American GIs. It also extensively covers their recovery after their camp was liberated by Patton’s Third Army, the first POW camp liberated by the Allied Forces. The authors detail the refeeding of men who were 60 or more pounds underweight. Well-meaning people allowing them to gorge themselves on goodies learned that too much of a good thing could prove deadly. In subsequent POW and concentration camp liberations, they knew to limit food intake initially and concentrate on physical examinations and documenting experience, in preparation for war crime charges. No more platters of doughnuts served to starved men.
For his uncommon bravery in defying the German camp commandant not once but twice, Roddie Edmonds was eventually honored by Israel as Righteous Among the Nations, being the first American nominated for saving American Jews. Righteous are non-Jews who risk themselves in order to help a Jew. I don’t want to say in this review what Roddie did – it would ruin it for future readers of this book. Even without his WWII heroism, Roddie’s story is a great read – one of the millions of his generation who just got on with life despite the horrors he encountered in his young life and always chose to do what he saw as the right thing based on his faith in God.
I gave this book five stars because it is extremely well written and reads more like a thriller than a biography. Despite all the books I have read about World War II, I learned much in No Surrender. The authors’ detailed accounts of daily life for the American POWs in Germany were startling to me. A little more than half the book is dedicated to that. It is stunning to me that they could survive that, but then they came back home and readjusted to “normal” life. They did not seek nor expect high praise for their service, just did what they saw as their duty.
August 18, 2019
I received an advance reading copy of this book from NetGalley in return for a fair review. When I started reading this book, I wasn't sure I was going to like it, but it turned out to be one of the finest books that I have read so far this year. As soon as I realized that Chris Edmonds was writing an extraordinary tribute to his father, I was all in. Roddie Edmonds was the kind of man you would be privileged to have known--a good father, a good provider and a man of faith. It was that faith that saw him through his darkest hour when he was a POW at a German prison camp during World War II. He never really talked about his experiences, but after his death, when Chris decided to research what happened, the amazing events unfolded. Roddie Edmonds was a hero in every sense of the word and his story needed to be told. He not only stood up to the sadistic officers that ran the POW camp, but put his men first and did what he could to save each and every one of them. He was only 25 years old with more than 1,000 men looking up to him for leadership and he did not disappoint. He prayed with them, inspired them to hang on and led by example. I would like to personally thank Chris Edmonds for introducing me to his father. I will never forget the bravery of this real-life hero. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in WWII, The Greatest Generation and/or the human spirit. Thank you, Roddie Edmonds, for your service and for the lives you saved. It is men like you who still give us hope.
October 21, 2019
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.
No Surrender tells the story of Roddie Edmonds, a soldier from Tennessee who is plunked down into hell on earth, Stalag IXA, a Nazi prisoner of war camp. Roddie’s son, Chris, begins a look into his father’s past to help his daughter with a school assignment. What he discovers is a man who lived his life according to one of his favorite scripture passages: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).
Chris begins with his father’s wartime diaries, which are cryptic at best. They are not diaries in the strict sense, some entries consisting of just a single word. This leads him to search for men who served with and under his father. Through interviews, he learns what happened in the camp. I won’t spoil your reading by telling you, but it is a story of courage, bravery, faith, inspiration and righteousness that will restore your faith in humanity.
This is a powerful book, and reading it will make you understand why it is called The Greatest Generation. The young men who lived these horrors went on to become ordinary people and, as the author points out, an ordinary life lived well is, indeed, extraordinary.
www.candysplanet.wordpress.com
No Surrender tells the story of Roddie Edmonds, a soldier from Tennessee who is plunked down into hell on earth, Stalag IXA, a Nazi prisoner of war camp. Roddie’s son, Chris, begins a look into his father’s past to help his daughter with a school assignment. What he discovers is a man who lived his life according to one of his favorite scripture passages: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).
Chris begins with his father’s wartime diaries, which are cryptic at best. They are not diaries in the strict sense, some entries consisting of just a single word. This leads him to search for men who served with and under his father. Through interviews, he learns what happened in the camp. I won’t spoil your reading by telling you, but it is a story of courage, bravery, faith, inspiration and righteousness that will restore your faith in humanity.
This is a powerful book, and reading it will make you understand why it is called The Greatest Generation. The young men who lived these horrors went on to become ordinary people and, as the author points out, an ordinary life lived well is, indeed, extraordinary.
www.candysplanet.wordpress.com
August 26, 2019
No Surrender by Christopher Edmonds is a wonderful tribute, written by a son, for his Dad, Roddie.
Chris knew his Father was a loving God-fearing man but did not know much about his years during
the war. He researched and found this story by the men that knew his Father well. What an
amazing man he was! This story was written very well. One of the reasons I chose this book, the
writer and his Dad lived here in my area. It was interesting to read about history back in the
day by a writer that researched well. It's a great book.
Thank you so much, Christopher Edmonds; Douglas Century, the Publisher, and NetGalley
for giving me the opportunity to read this book.
Chris knew his Father was a loving God-fearing man but did not know much about his years during
the war. He researched and found this story by the men that knew his Father well. What an
amazing man he was! This story was written very well. One of the reasons I chose this book, the
writer and his Dad lived here in my area. It was interesting to read about history back in the
day by a writer that researched well. It's a great book.
Thank you so much, Christopher Edmonds; Douglas Century, the Publisher, and NetGalley
for giving me the opportunity to read this book.
Currently reading
January 30, 2021BookPerk199
May 30, 2021
This was really two stories - Chris Edmonds' daughter is assigned a project and uncovers her grandfather's past through his diaries which leads to the first story - Roddie Edmonds actions at the close of WWII. Roddie Edmonds was a Master Sergeant in the 106th Infantry and was sent to the Ardennes in December 1944. He arrived just days prior to the Battle of the Bulge and he & his troops were captured in the fighting (nearly 6,000 men of the 106th would eventually surrender). He is sent to one of the most infamous German POW camps - Stalag IX. His actions during the few months between capture and the end of the war were responsible for saving Jewish-American soldiers from death. He and his men were routinely tortured - made to stand half-clothed in the freezing weather; made to identify the Jews within their ranks at risk of their own lives, sometimes with a gun held to their head; living in quarters that were not identified as POW, so that they risked friendly fire by Allies as their units were mistook as barracks. The conditions were horrifying - the men looked skeletal within just a month or two and by the time that they were liberated, many had lost 60 to 80 pounds. In the midst of this, Roddie Edmonds - a man of quiet faith (and yes, there is some religion in this account...but there are no atheists in foxholes, or POW camps apparently. I, for one, was inspired and touched by the stories of this man of faith.) - led the men and stood up to captors. When he returned home, he resumed his life and did not speak of his time in the Army. It was not until after his death - and his granddaughter's project that much of his actions came to light. There has been an effort to have his actions recognized with the Congressional Medal of Honor (currently the Army has blocked this because he was a captive at the time), but he was recognized by Israel / the Yad Vashem as a Righteous Man. Truly an inspiring tale.
Quotes to remember:
...faith, family, friends, freedom. That's how he lived and that's how he died, too.
...he and my father, somehow, overcame the horrors of war and came back home to live ordinary lives of extraordinary influence.
I am going back home to my relatives and friends, he wrote. I feel as if I am going to be strange among them. I want no sympathy. I want peace, quiet, and more than anything, I want God. I hope my actions won't cause the wrong feelings towards me. I don't want to do anything wrong, not the least little thing.
...while Dad's life had been marked by tragedy and hardships, it had been well-lived and deeply felt. I know that now. My father wasn't perfect, none of ours are. But what I've learned is that is that you don't have to be perfect to do something extraordinary. Ordinary people are heroic, and an ordinary life lived well is indeed extraordinary. My father's story is a testament to that, and so are the stories of the men who served alongside him, the men my father saved in Stalag IX-A. Like ripples in a pond, my father's actions all those years ago continue to resonate today in unexpected ways. Learning about it not only changed my conception of the world, and our God's grace, it also transformed me and my family.
The lesson of that day has shaped my life, Lester wrote in an affidavit for the Medal of Honor recommendation. There have been times when you must take a calculated risk, however perilous, to stand up and do the right thing for yourself and those for whom you have responsibility...One man's courage saved many lives, mine among them. When I look back at all the years since that fateful day, I find many occasions in my personal, family, and professional life when I can link my decisions and actions to my service in the war and to the experience when I watched Roddie standing up to the Nazi major.
Each of us, I've come to understand, has the moral capacity to make a difference in the lives of others. The good we do creates a lasting legacy that carries on from generation to generation. We don't need to do a grand thing, a huge act of courage. It's the everyday acts of goodwill that help make our world a better place. What we often don't realize is that we're leaving a legacy every time we do something kind, generous, or thoughtful for someone else, simply because, as Lester said, it's the right thing to do. Like Dad, we must choose right, oppose wrong, and dignify life. If we're going to make our world better, we must aspire to the place where God resides and put others ahead of ourselves. It's that simple.
Quotes to remember:
...faith, family, friends, freedom. That's how he lived and that's how he died, too.
...he and my father, somehow, overcame the horrors of war and came back home to live ordinary lives of extraordinary influence.
I am going back home to my relatives and friends, he wrote. I feel as if I am going to be strange among them. I want no sympathy. I want peace, quiet, and more than anything, I want God. I hope my actions won't cause the wrong feelings towards me. I don't want to do anything wrong, not the least little thing.
...while Dad's life had been marked by tragedy and hardships, it had been well-lived and deeply felt. I know that now. My father wasn't perfect, none of ours are. But what I've learned is that is that you don't have to be perfect to do something extraordinary. Ordinary people are heroic, and an ordinary life lived well is indeed extraordinary. My father's story is a testament to that, and so are the stories of the men who served alongside him, the men my father saved in Stalag IX-A. Like ripples in a pond, my father's actions all those years ago continue to resonate today in unexpected ways. Learning about it not only changed my conception of the world, and our God's grace, it also transformed me and my family.
The lesson of that day has shaped my life, Lester wrote in an affidavit for the Medal of Honor recommendation. There have been times when you must take a calculated risk, however perilous, to stand up and do the right thing for yourself and those for whom you have responsibility...One man's courage saved many lives, mine among them. When I look back at all the years since that fateful day, I find many occasions in my personal, family, and professional life when I can link my decisions and actions to my service in the war and to the experience when I watched Roddie standing up to the Nazi major.
Each of us, I've come to understand, has the moral capacity to make a difference in the lives of others. The good we do creates a lasting legacy that carries on from generation to generation. We don't need to do a grand thing, a huge act of courage. It's the everyday acts of goodwill that help make our world a better place. What we often don't realize is that we're leaving a legacy every time we do something kind, generous, or thoughtful for someone else, simply because, as Lester said, it's the right thing to do. Like Dad, we must choose right, oppose wrong, and dignify life. If we're going to make our world better, we must aspire to the place where God resides and put others ahead of ourselves. It's that simple.
November 12, 2019
Edmond’s book is an inspirational account of his father Roddie Edmonds and his courageous acts during World War II.I was introduced this book as part of our Jewish Film Festival occurring for the last 2 weeks and this book with the film “Footsteps of My Father” were its conclusion. Pastor Edmonds introduced the film and spoke about the book on Veterans Day, 11/11/19.
Pastor Edmonds knew very little about his father’s actions during the war growing up in Knoxville, TN. It has been very typical of the Greatest Generation to not speak about the events of WWII. Pastor Edmonds decided to find out about his father by following a trail of a few clues. In this book, we learn that Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds and his boys fought at the Battle of the Bulge and were captured by the Nazis in Dec 1944. They were first deported to Bad Orb in cattle cars and then to StalagIXA as prisoners of war near Ziegenheim Germany. The experience at the camp were extremely horrific but he never wavered to the Nazi brutality especially towards the Jewish American GI’s.
It was due to his leadership and bravery that he saved the lives of 200 Jewish GI’s. When they wanted to separate out the Jews from the Gentiles, all 1200 soldiers stood together at Roddie’s request and said “We are all Jew”. They would have to kill them all but that the war was ending and they would be implicated for war crimes before the world. And in late March 1945, after 3 months of captivity, the 1200 soldiers were to be forced on the final catastrophic march out of the camp at the end of the war so the Nazis could escape capture. The Nazis relented and escaped leaving Roddie and the 1200 GI”s to remain in the camp until liberated by General George Patton who rescued them a few days later. Roddie Edmonds stood up to the Nazis with valor at the expense of possibly losing his life.
Edmonds provides incredible and startling details of major events during World WarII and US Army initiatives including the Battle of the Bulge, the Massacre of Malmedy and other facts with pictures throughout the book. It was also quite incredible how he found fellow soldiers who knew his father and who could fill in the details and provide testimony of their POW experiences. This lead to finally getting Christopher Edmonds father to get recognition for what he did during the war. He received a Medal of Honor and on June 6, 2015, the anniversary of D-Day, Yad Vashem, Israel’s National Holocaust Memorial, awarded him the Righteous among Nations Award. President Obama spoke in commemoration of him at the Embassy of Israel Washington, DC on January 27, 2016 on International Holocaust Remembrance Day and 71st anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and spoke at the Righteous among the Nations Award where Roddie Edmonds was honored for his bravery in saving Jewish GI’s. There have been only 4 other Americans to receive this honor.
This was a truly inspirational story of how one man’s courage saved many lives. To Roddie, it was just the right thing to do. President Trump, mentioned him yesterday in his Veterans Day speech in NYC and Pastor Edmond’s daughter stood up in honor of her father (and also a surviving Jewish GI, Lester Tanner was recognized) while Pastor Edmonds was in Columbia, SC to speak to us last night and show the film and then go to Fort Jackson where his father and the soldiers trained to get ready for the War.
I highly recommend this book about a true American hero. It is fast moving and does not read like a history.
Pastor Edmonds knew very little about his father’s actions during the war growing up in Knoxville, TN. It has been very typical of the Greatest Generation to not speak about the events of WWII. Pastor Edmonds decided to find out about his father by following a trail of a few clues. In this book, we learn that Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds and his boys fought at the Battle of the Bulge and were captured by the Nazis in Dec 1944. They were first deported to Bad Orb in cattle cars and then to StalagIXA as prisoners of war near Ziegenheim Germany. The experience at the camp were extremely horrific but he never wavered to the Nazi brutality especially towards the Jewish American GI’s.
It was due to his leadership and bravery that he saved the lives of 200 Jewish GI’s. When they wanted to separate out the Jews from the Gentiles, all 1200 soldiers stood together at Roddie’s request and said “We are all Jew”. They would have to kill them all but that the war was ending and they would be implicated for war crimes before the world. And in late March 1945, after 3 months of captivity, the 1200 soldiers were to be forced on the final catastrophic march out of the camp at the end of the war so the Nazis could escape capture. The Nazis relented and escaped leaving Roddie and the 1200 GI”s to remain in the camp until liberated by General George Patton who rescued them a few days later. Roddie Edmonds stood up to the Nazis with valor at the expense of possibly losing his life.
Edmonds provides incredible and startling details of major events during World WarII and US Army initiatives including the Battle of the Bulge, the Massacre of Malmedy and other facts with pictures throughout the book. It was also quite incredible how he found fellow soldiers who knew his father and who could fill in the details and provide testimony of their POW experiences. This lead to finally getting Christopher Edmonds father to get recognition for what he did during the war. He received a Medal of Honor and on June 6, 2015, the anniversary of D-Day, Yad Vashem, Israel’s National Holocaust Memorial, awarded him the Righteous among Nations Award. President Obama spoke in commemoration of him at the Embassy of Israel Washington, DC on January 27, 2016 on International Holocaust Remembrance Day and 71st anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and spoke at the Righteous among the Nations Award where Roddie Edmonds was honored for his bravery in saving Jewish GI’s. There have been only 4 other Americans to receive this honor.
This was a truly inspirational story of how one man’s courage saved many lives. To Roddie, it was just the right thing to do. President Trump, mentioned him yesterday in his Veterans Day speech in NYC and Pastor Edmond’s daughter stood up in honor of her father (and also a surviving Jewish GI, Lester Tanner was recognized) while Pastor Edmonds was in Columbia, SC to speak to us last night and show the film and then go to Fort Jackson where his father and the soldiers trained to get ready for the War.
I highly recommend this book about a true American hero. It is fast moving and does not read like a history.
June 4, 2022
A great story that is part history and part biography about an unassuming father who, unbeknownst to his son, was a war hero. The quiet heroism that his father had, which to him could have been categorized as just "doing my job," was quite moving. The son never knew the story as his father died without ever telling it. His son pieced the story together after his daughter had an assignment in school that started the journey.
At a certain point, we all have the opportunity to make a stand, and he did, saving many lives as a POW in WWII. A great story, a great man of faith, and a great example to us all.
At a certain point, we all have the opportunity to make a stand, and he did, saving many lives as a POW in WWII. A great story, a great man of faith, and a great example to us all.
July 29, 2024
Another heroic story of the Greatest Generation that was not told (1st hand) to the next generation – father to son. It wasn’t until the granddaughter had a school project that the story began to develop, and Christopher Edmonds and family researched and learned what his father Roddie Edmonds did during World War II. The Talmud teaches “He who saves a single life, saves the entire world”. Staff Sargent Roddie Edmonds twice save numerous lives while jeopardizing his own life. In one instance he saved an estimated 200 Jews from almost certain death in one of the Nazi death camps and in another he saved numerous emaciated and wounded American POW soldiers from dying on a forced march relocating to another POW camp. Roddie Edmonds in only 1 of 4 Americans (and only American soldier) included with the Righteous at Yad Vashem.
April 1, 2020
Another amazing story of the resilience of the human spirit during suffering!
Read
December 16, 2020Wow!
August 11, 2019
There are many World War II memoirs listed on Amazon and Goodreads- and a Google search will have you scrambling through 112 million results. There probably aren’t millions of memoirs, but I am thankful that there are many, because each person who served on the Allied side has an amazing story to tell. And these stories must be told soon, while we still have the veterans or their families to tell them. Christopher Edmond’s search for the details of his father’s World War II service is a uniquely positive and uplifting read, even though the details are harsh and horrifying. The book is written in a clear and friendly style and is a pleasure to read.
The author recalls that his Dad Roddie was scrupulously fair and was known as a “square shooter”. But his Dad also had a fun side and would light up a room and warm everyone’s heart with fun and laughter. Roddie was a sincere Christian and ended family prayers by saying, “Lord, help us help others who can’t help themselves.” He loved to sing hymns in church and coach his son’s little league team.
Growing up, the author had no clue about his Dad’s service during World War II. Like many men who returned from the war, Roddie wanted to get on with his life and have a home and family. The author did know that his Dad had served as a Master Sergeant in the US Army, 422nd Regiment of the 106th Infantry Division- the Golden Lions. It wasn’t until his daughter had to do a school project, that he and his family began to look closely through his Dad’s war memorabilia and study his Dad’s diaries from 1944-45.
The author felt a strong pull to search for the men who had served with his father, or their remaining families, to learn more about his Dad’s experiences during the Battle of the Bulge and subsequent capture by the Germans and imprisonment in a POW camp. Fortunately, some of Roddie’s Army buddies were still alive and the author met with them and finally heard the grim details and bravery of his father.
Roddie’s service to the Army and duty to his men of all faiths teach us that one person can always make a difference. And that’s why the author is sharing the story of his father’s message around the world, a message of the transformative power of love, selfless sacrifice and moral courage. Roddie was a secure, grounded and prepared young man, and he was able with God’s help to do the impossible. The story of Roddie’s months overseas and his son’s search to learn about it 75 years later is incredible.
Master Sergeant Roddie Waring Edmonds of Knoxville, Tennessee would be posthumously highly honored for his World War II heroism, in 2015. He saved 1500 of his men, men who were in their early twenties at the time and who would go home to live long lives filled with careers, marriage, children, grand-children and great-grandchildren. I thank all of the men and women who have served in the Armed Forces and I salute the “Greatest Generation.” I highly recommend this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishers Harper One for a digital advanced review copy. This is my honest review.
The author recalls that his Dad Roddie was scrupulously fair and was known as a “square shooter”. But his Dad also had a fun side and would light up a room and warm everyone’s heart with fun and laughter. Roddie was a sincere Christian and ended family prayers by saying, “Lord, help us help others who can’t help themselves.” He loved to sing hymns in church and coach his son’s little league team.
Growing up, the author had no clue about his Dad’s service during World War II. Like many men who returned from the war, Roddie wanted to get on with his life and have a home and family. The author did know that his Dad had served as a Master Sergeant in the US Army, 422nd Regiment of the 106th Infantry Division- the Golden Lions. It wasn’t until his daughter had to do a school project, that he and his family began to look closely through his Dad’s war memorabilia and study his Dad’s diaries from 1944-45.
The author felt a strong pull to search for the men who had served with his father, or their remaining families, to learn more about his Dad’s experiences during the Battle of the Bulge and subsequent capture by the Germans and imprisonment in a POW camp. Fortunately, some of Roddie’s Army buddies were still alive and the author met with them and finally heard the grim details and bravery of his father.
Roddie’s service to the Army and duty to his men of all faiths teach us that one person can always make a difference. And that’s why the author is sharing the story of his father’s message around the world, a message of the transformative power of love, selfless sacrifice and moral courage. Roddie was a secure, grounded and prepared young man, and he was able with God’s help to do the impossible. The story of Roddie’s months overseas and his son’s search to learn about it 75 years later is incredible.
Master Sergeant Roddie Waring Edmonds of Knoxville, Tennessee would be posthumously highly honored for his World War II heroism, in 2015. He saved 1500 of his men, men who were in their early twenties at the time and who would go home to live long lives filled with careers, marriage, children, grand-children and great-grandchildren. I thank all of the men and women who have served in the Armed Forces and I salute the “Greatest Generation.” I highly recommend this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishers Harper One for a digital advanced review copy. This is my honest review.
April 3, 2021
Excellent story of extraordinary faith and courage.
October 27, 2019
Many WW II vets were reticent to discuss their experiences in the war. Chris Edmonds' father was one of those: he didn't tell his family what he did, saw, and felt during the war. He died decades before his son started researching those events. What Roddie Edmonds did was heroic and had far-reaching effects. Roddie Edmonds' story is a powerful one. His deeds made the world a better place.
The author is a pastor and clearly driven by a faith in God. This shows in the early and late chapters of the book, where he talks of God doing things and God making things happen, as if man is without agency. I think it's great if someone's religion makes them a better person, but insisting that some event was the will of God rather than the result of the efforts of a man, or just from coincidence rubs me the wrong way. An example is late in the book when the opinion is expressed that the world would be better if it was remade a Christian world. I find that ironic, given that the heroic efforts of the author's father were made to save Jews from a nation who had "Gott mit uns" on the belt buckles of their soldiers.
A minor nit-pick about the book: many photographs are included. It would be an easy and natural thing to put the captions and credits for the photos adjacent to the photos. Instead, somebody decided to have all the info about the pictures in small print on one page at the front of the book.
The author is a pastor and clearly driven by a faith in God. This shows in the early and late chapters of the book, where he talks of God doing things and God making things happen, as if man is without agency. I think it's great if someone's religion makes them a better person, but insisting that some event was the will of God rather than the result of the efforts of a man, or just from coincidence rubs me the wrong way. An example is late in the book when the opinion is expressed that the world would be better if it was remade a Christian world. I find that ironic, given that the heroic efforts of the author's father were made to save Jews from a nation who had "Gott mit uns" on the belt buckles of their soldiers.
A minor nit-pick about the book: many photographs are included. It would be an easy and natural thing to put the captions and credits for the photos adjacent to the photos. Instead, somebody decided to have all the info about the pictures in small print on one page at the front of the book.
November 16, 2019
The story of one man uncovering his late father’s wartime experiences through his diaries and interviews with fellow soldiers would be interesting to anyone fascinated by World War II or family history. It is also a story of deep faith, faith that sustained through the worst of times and uplifted and endured long after overcoming adversity. If you were moved by the story of Oskar Schindler, you will find this memoir equally powerful. How one very young, inexperienced sargeant displayed incredible bravery and protected an entire camp of American POWs through the worst conditions of internment in a German prison camp is a remarkable story. Add to that the moral courage he showed in defending the Jewish soldiers in that camp, and you will see how the efforts of one individual can change the course of history. One warning. Your progress in finishing this book will be impeded as you stop frequently to wipe your eyes.
December 10, 2019
No Surrender by Christopher Edmonds and Douglas Century is a gripping historical memoir like no other I have read before. Books about World War II are available everywhere you turn right now but this is one you should really pick up and read. After his passing, Edmonds goes on a journey to find out all he can about his father, who was a prisoner of war of the Nazis during World War II. This is a look into the experiences of not only Edmond's father but also those who he served with and whose lives he saved. He grants us a look into the life of a remarkable man, a hero, that lived his life not only for himself, but in the service of others without looking for recognition for doing so. I highly recommend this read!
October 28, 2019
A powerful story how one decision instantly saved 200 American Jewish GI's that then led to thousands of people given the chance to live.
I'm privileged to know Chris and to have been along for the journey to publishing a book about his father in a small way. Even if I didn't know Chris, this would be a story I'd want to read. If you're a fan of the Greatest Generation, you'll want to check out this book.
I'm privileged to know Chris and to have been along for the journey to publishing a book about his father in a small way. Even if I didn't know Chris, this would be a story I'd want to read. If you're a fan of the Greatest Generation, you'll want to check out this book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 142 reviews