"We Are All Jews": The Untold Heroism of POW Roddie Edmonds - Part 2"We Are All Jews": The Untold Heroism of POW Roddie Edmonds - Part 2
Crossroads with Jenny Bushkell
Pastor Chris Edmonds shares how his father, POW Roddie Edmonds, lived a simple faith-driven moral code that saved hundreds and shaped generations. The story highlights ordinary, God-focused choices that become acts of quiet heroism and a call to honour God by helping others.
25:03•25 Aug 2026
"We’re All Jews Here": Faith, Courage and Roddy’s Code of Everyday Heroism
Episode Overview
- Courage is shown as Roddie Edmonds risks his life by declaring "We’re all Jews here" rather than surrendering Jewish soldiers to certain death.
- Roddy’s Code emphasises choosing Christ, opposing evil, dignifying life and esteeming everyone, regardless of background or risk.
- Small acts in extreme hardship—sharing a Bible, praying, singing and organising care for hopeless prisoners—help sustain dignity and hope.
- Ordinary lives can be "extraordinary, even heroic" when they are lived to honour God and to help others.
- Roddie’s recurring prayer, "help us to help others who can’t help themselves," is offered as a simple guiding principle for daily life.
“Dear Lord, help us to help others who can’t help themselves.”
Get ready to be moved by real-life accounts of courage, faith and quiet heroism. This episode of Crossroads with Jenny Bushkell continues the story of Roddie Edmonds, told by his son, pastor and author Chris Edmonds, and it’s far more than a history lesson.
You’ll hear how Roddie, a World War II POW, became the only person ever to receive both the US Medal of Honor and recognition by Yad Vashem as "Righteous Among the Nations" for saving around 200 Jewish American servicemen. Chris shares the moment his father stood in front of armed Nazis and said, "We’re all Jews here," refusing to single out any Jewish soldiers despite a pistol pressed to his head.
The heart of the episode is "Roddy’s Code" – a simple but demanding way of life rooted in Christian faith: choose Christ, oppose evil, dignify life and esteem everybody. Chris explains how his father lived this out in the camp, smuggling a Bible, reading and praying with men of different faiths, organising "up" prisoners to care for those who’d given up, and constantly pointing people to God in the harshest conditions.
There’s humour and warmth too, as Chris recalls Roddie’s promise to God that if his men survived, "I’m going to sing for you" – a vow he kept by singing gospel songs on Knoxville street corners and in church, where he eventually met Chris’s mother. The episode closes with a challenge that fits anyone wrestling with addiction, trauma or just feeling ordinary: live your everyday life "to the glory of God" by honouring God first and helping others second.
As Roddie often prayed, "Dear Lord, help us to help others who can’t help themselves." If one ordinary man in a POW camp could change generations by doing the right thing, what might your next brave, faithful step do in your own story?
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