A Son's Eulogy for Al Edmonds - Honoring a Life Well Spent
James Alfonso Edmonds (February 16th, 1958 - July 25th, 2022)
Words my father admonished us with one Sunday
Though that idea now falls nobly on our ears
We may find it daunting or impossible one day
But my father spoke with deep conviction then
A truth found from hard work, war, and strife
I can only hope and pray that when
Fear and death face me, I live a gallant life
My dad was born in Winnsboro, Louisiana in 1958 to Bruce Alfonso Edmonds and to the former Mildred Anne Bynum. He was blessed to be raised among four loving siblings - Mary, David, John, and Deborah.
His childhood stories are those of an idyllic odyssey of an American boy in the Deep South. Playing army and exploring the swamps with his best friends Mark Nelson and David Cader. Shooting water moccasins from a railroad trestle. Carrying a stray litter of kittens he found in the swamp across that same railroad trestle in his t-shirt. Learning to hunt, shoot, and train hound dogs from his grandfather - Papa Edmonds. Family trips to visit his mama’s family, the Bynum’s, in Mississippi. Visiting his sister, Mary, while she was going to college. Watching his brother David straighten out an older boy who punched dad in the stomach and tried to steal his bike. Playing on the same football team as his brother John. Holding his little sister Deborah’s hand as they walked through their big yard at the home built by their great grandfather - Isum Alfonso Steele, who was one of the founders of Sicily Island. Home cooked meals and tender love from his mama. Pranks and mischief across the small town that included throwing firecrackers in the gymnasium, throwing water balloons at trick or treaters from the roof of the family house, and standing outside the window of a first grade classroom imitating Miss Candy while she led her class through “I’m a little teacup.” He had an abiding love of animals - from German shepherds named Lady & Thor, to his Papa Edmonds’ coon hounds, to Pa Bynum’s bird dogs, to a goat named Gertrude, and an assortment of wandering cats & dogs too numerous to recount. He played little league baseball, high school football under the legendary Coach JR Peace, and high school basketball under Coach Albert Krause. In college, at Northeast Louisiana University, he continued athletics on the varsity orienteering team, intramural basketball team, and flag football team. He was the Vice President of the Criminal Justice Honor Society and attended its national convention in Kentucky in 1978. He was on track to graduate early but was awarded an Army ROTC scholarship so he stayed for another year. Thus began a chapter of his life largely untold in Sicily Island:
Dad served in the Army for 17 years in a storied career as a military intelligence officer in the 2nd Armored Division at Fort Hood TX, the 5th Infantry Division at Fort Polk LA, the United Nations Command Security Battalion - Joint Security Area in Panmunjom, and the 1st Cavalry Division in Fort Hood TX and two deployments to the Middle East. Each of these experiences shaped the great man he was:
Dad was the first military intelligence officer assigned to the fabled unit known as the UN Command Security Force - Joint Security Area (or JSA) - the outfit of American soldiers and Korean soldiers that patrol the Demilitarized Zone in Panmunjom Korea. He quickly earned a reputation as a man who could be relied upon in one of the most dangerous places on earth. His friend Mark Lisi told me that dad was “always in the North Koreans [backside] - I’ll use the word ‘backside’ as a substitute for what his friend Mark Lisi said. The small group of officers at the DMZ outpost of Panmunjom were known as the Monastery of the Merry Mad Monks of the DMZ. Each was known by a nickname based on humorous or daring feats they had accomplished. Dad earned his first nickname on his first patrol into the DMZ. Intel officers weren’t supposed to go on patrols in case they were captured and interrogated, but as the officer responsible for planning the patrols, Dad insisted that he be allowed to tag along. So it happened that on this night patrol, something the size of a man jumped up at him and Dad discharged his weapon into his attacker’s body - only to find out it was a rare variety of Korean stork that nested on the ground at night - earning him the name “Brother Birdman.” Dad earned his second and enduring nickname in the Panmunjom truce village where American soldiers and South Korean soldiers stand guard every day and stare down their North Korean counterparts. The North Korean government issued a formal complaint through diplomatic channels against a certain Captain Edmonds who had made strange faces at the North Korean guards and hurt their feelings - earning him the name - “Brother Strangeface.” Dad hosted and guided VIPs in tours of Panmunjom that included numerous heads of state and ambassadors, Vice President Dan Quayle, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, country music legends Jerry Reed and Randy Travis, and the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders. But more remarkable than any of that, was his lifesaving role in the defection of a Chinese officer that will go down in the annals of the history of the intelligence community. A Chinese major was assigned to the North Korean side of the DMZ in a nominal role as a language officer, but he was actually an intelligence officer there to collect information on American activity in Korea. This officer met with dad on a regular basis in “cultural & language exchanges” that were thinly veiled Cold War intelligence opportunities for both sides. This officer took great pride in China and its progress on the world stage, until 1989 when the Chinese government massacred thousands of its own citizens, mainly young students, during protests in Tiananmen Square in his hometown of Beijing. Dad noticed that this Chinese major’s mood about China and North Korea had begun to change, and the Chinese major soon expressed his intent to defect across the Korean DMZ with his wife and seek political asylum in the US. Dad and other members of the JSA and Special Operations Command-Korea personally assisted in the escape of this Chinese major and his wife and their successful bid for political asylum in the free world. When Dad came back from Desert Storm two years later, he was put on a plane and flown to a nondescript location where this former Chinese major, whose name I will let fade to the secrets of history, thanked Dad for saving his life. Dad was contacted in 2005 by an author wishing to include his story in a book, but refused.
Only a few short months after returning from Korea, my dad was once again headed overseas to serve in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm during the Persian Gulf War. As the Deputy Intelligence Officer of the legendary 1st Cavalry Division, he served in the Division Tactical Command Post, alongside or close behind the frontline brigades.
His armored vehicle was one of the first through the breach in the berm that separated Saudi Arabia and Iraq. He never forgot the sound of anti-personnel mines popping beneath his vehicle’s tracks or the rat-a-tat sound of machine gun fire against the armored plating of that vehicle while American psychological warfare vehicles blasted the “Ride of the Valkyries” by Richard Wagner from loudspeakers. When 1st CAV fought in the Battle of the Wadi al-Batin, Dad was providing intelligence to the frontline units that kept American soldiers alive and allowed for the complete destruction of the Hammurabi Division of the Iraqi Republican Guard.
My dad’s good friend Nigel Dunkley, a British Army officer attached to 1st CAV during the Persian Gulf War recalled an incident in which my dad prevented an incident of fratricide, or friendly fire, and saved the lives of roughly 100 American soldiers. These are Nigel’s words:
“[Al], being an [intel] type, [was] closely focused on watching the Iraqis' behavior just before the ground war started - a couple of [armored personnel carriers] would come right towards us and drop off some [observation post] guys who would then pack up and withdraw at dawn. This happened a few nights - always the same behavior pattern until one night when they didn't come right forward but just sat there. [Al was] very quick to come over to my Ops map from [his intel] map and said convincingly [that he] thought they are not behaving like Iraqis and so therefore these vehicles must be something else. Of course the obvious conclusion would be they were [our] own forces but I . . . and a whole gaggle of others spent more than a couple of hours checking everything possible to see if they were indeed [our] own forces . . . Meanwhile [the colonel] in charge of [the division artillery] was climbing out of his red legged skin trying to get our permission to fire a full [artillery] mission on these vehicles - it would be an ideal opportunity to get his guns "blooded” . . . With [Al’s] dogged determination that in [his] professional opinion they might not be . . . the enemy, [the artillery colonel] was getting very angry as he knew that the Iraqis would withdraw any minute and the opportunity would be lost. I watched [General Tommy R.] Franks ask [Al] what [he thought] and through all the build up of tension [Al] kept [his nerve]. It was a long time later (or seemed so) [that] we heard from [1st Brigade] that it was a lost [mechanized infantry] company under a CPT Frankavilla . . . [Brigadier General] Franks got both the really charming Captain and the not so [charming] colonel to come to the DTAC tent and to apologize and thank us for standing firm and not shooting up a bunch of [Bradley fighting vehicles].”
. . . Nigel said it was “Al's crowning moment and he is so modest he didn't even seem to realize what a significant impact he had just had.”
Dad came home with a Bronze Star and never told that story to anyone. He shortly thereafter returned to the Middle East as the Intelligence Officer for 1st Brigade, 1st CAV in Kuwait during Operation Intrinsic Action & Operation Southern Watch - where his unit prevented Saddam Hussein from attempting another invasion of Kuwait. After his second deployment, he closed out his army career training National Guard and Reserve units in Fort Sheridan, Illinois and serving as an instructional technologist at the Command & General Staff College Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas.
His remarkable life as a soldier was evident by the messages of support he got after his stroke, including ones from General Tommy R. Franks, General Joseph Inge, Colonel Mark Lisi of the 75th Ranger Regiment, and British Colonel Nigel Dunkley of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards.
After a brief stint as a defense contractor, dad decided he wanted to be farther removed from the military lifestyle in his retirement and became a computer technician for the Johnson County Library in Leavenworth, KS. He found it to be peaceful & relaxing, and he enjoyed the fact that the most stressful thing that happened there was a book getting lost.
While enjoying retirement in Fairhope, AL, Dad he spent his days walking his dogs, Murphy & then Lizzie, at the Fairhope park or down to the Fairhope pier, or happily enjoying the company of his two cats, Doc & Wyatt, and his guinea pig, Chuck.
In 2007, he made the best decision of his life and married Miss Candy. She brought out the best in him, loved him with fierce and loyal compassion, was patient with his moods, and was his favorite companion in catfishing adventures on Lake St. John. Miss Candy gave dad the best 15 years of his life at their beautiful home called Cedar Bluff. The Christmases, Thanksgivings, and Easter’s there were unparalleled in their warmth and happiness. In total they had 15 dogs throughout the years, and well over 40 outdoor cats. Dad was a dog whisperer and Miss Candy called him the pied piper for how those animals would follow him around. Dad and Miss Candy became stronger in their Christian faith together, watched Lonesome Dove and X Files a dozen times together, talked late into the night about life and God and family, and had a bond that should inspire the rest of us in the congregation today.
Dad became part of a family that brought him three amazing step-daughters - Heather, Missy, and Jessica. And he treasured the company of their three families whenever they came to Cedar Bluff. He was so happy when Miss Candy’s granddaughter Avery got to spend three months at home with them - playing monopoly, watching movies, and eating Johnny’s Pizza. He became Huckleberry, or Huck, for Sadie and Sarah, who he adored with all the love that a grandfather could have for two girls as smart, funny, and imaginative as those two. From playing Duck & Rooster with Sadie, to paying Sarah for feathers she found at Cedar Bluff, to rocking them to sleep as babies and showing deep interest in their art, stories, and dreams as young women - Huck was an amazing grandfather.
As a father, he had no equal. I feel confident in saying that few fathers have gone to the lengths that he did to be a good dad. Dad and I drew short straws when it came to the difficulty of our family situation. We were geographically separated, twice by an ocean; our time together was limited during the summers; we missed a lot of holidays together when I was younger; and it never seemed easy to see each other. But he always made it happen.
I remember dad driving to Colorado all the way from Kansas just to see me for the weekend. He’d be so tired that the first thing we'd have to do is nap at the Motel 6 we'd be at, but once we were okay, we'd go to the Denver Zoo or the Natural History Museum or anywhere I wanted to go. When it was time for us to go our separate ways, he’d tell me to be strong and not to worry, because he’d always be there and it wouldn't be long til we saw each other again. He showed me the "live long and prosper" hand salute from Star Trek, and that became our farewell salute ever since.
Dad taught me how to shoot, how to fish, and how to camp. He taught me how to take care of dogs. His love for his dogs showed me what type of compassion a man should have in his heart. He took me to church every Sunday and talked to me about God and exemplified what a good Christian looks like. He talked to me about history, politics, the Army, and our family - and he taught me so much that no one else could have.
When Dad married Miss Candy, he brought me into a family that I wouldn't trade for anything. To have three step-sisters and a loving step-mother like Miss Candy gave me a sense of normalcy that I had never felt before. Cedar Bluff has become the only place I truly think of as home.
In college, he drove to Tuscaloosa about every other weekend my freshmen year so that I could come home and spend time with family. Dad supported me getting married to someone I love. He and Miss Candy welcomed Alex into our family like one of their own children. And he guided me through the hardest times of my life and never let me feel like I had lost some worth or goodness in myself.
When he had to reprimand me or correct me, he was firm and fair, and never cruel. He always took the time to explain the reasoning behind things to me. He helped me frame my life with a rational perspective on things. Though he is gone, the compass of the storied life he lived remains.
Thank you for being here to honor the memory of James Alfonso Edmonds - a Christian, a husband, a father, a Huckleberry, a soldier, a humble hero, a dog lover, and the greatest man I’ve ever known. I’ll finally leave you with my dad’s favorite Bible verse about hard times, from the Book of Joshua, Chapter 1, Verse 9- “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
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