For acts of valor in Afghanistan, four soldiers have been awarded a prestigious medal, the highest of its kind. The men reacted to a suicide bomber in Kunduz who blew himself up as well as two other soldiers and five children. Despite a fire and exploding munitions, the four sergeants did everything they could to protect the rest of their unit as well as the other children. So what’s the big deal? As it happens, the four soldiers are members of the German Bundeswehr. The award they received from Angela Merkel, as reported in Der Spiegel and elsewhere, is known as the Ehrenkreuz (cross of honor, or as the official translation goes: Military Cross of Courage). This should not in any way be mistaken for that other cross-you know, the one made of iron that was handed out about 2.6 million times for various acts in defense of the Third Reich. Yes, the new medal, issued last year, bears some resemblance to that other one, but it isn’t quite the same. For one, there’s no swastika within the cross. And two, we’re not talking about medal in the shape of two lightning bolts or a skull and crossbones. The point, as Der Spiegel reports, is to boost morale for the troops and to rally support for them back home. Since 2002, 35 German soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan and currently, according to a Forsa poll, 61 percent of Germans want an immediate withdrawal. The Ehrenkreuz, which faced much opposition when it was first announced, is the least the government can do for its own troops.
