Germany May Reintroduce Combat Valor Awards

[Dallas]

Germany currently has no awards for combat valor, not even a wound badge or medal. There is debate going on in Germany to reintroduce valor awards now that German forces are active in combat zones. The link below is to an online paper with an article on the topic.

Bid to restore Iron Cross awakens Germany's angst - International Herald Tribune

[Tom Houlihan]

That is a sad article to read.

[gi-rene]

I think our RSS Bot tossed the same article out there....

I passed this a long to the German reenactors who said that the Bundeswehr has everything a military needs except tradition.

And the agree if they reinstate it, do it in honor of the Imperial Germans or harken back further to the Prussians.

WWII never stopped the Japanese from using the Rising Sun as their naval ensign... Why should the Germans let a madman stay their hand on an award of valor?

[lufttiger]

Well said!

[gi-rene]

Even more, I didn't know this... its illegal to even fly the Imperial German Flag from WWI in Germany. One of my friends whose wife is German said that... They just want to forget anything and everything that went wrong I guess....

[Trailboss49]

If the soldiers serve in a combat zone and do something out of the ordinary then I see no reason why they should not be awarded a medal. However, the Iron Cross does stir up some bad memories, perhaps if it were redesigned or a public relations push to show its new symbolism would be worthwhile.

[Dallas]

Current German culture is so wrapped up in guilt for being a major cause of two world wars, they can't sperate the Iron Cross from their Imperialism and Nazism past, IMHO. I don't see a valid reason why the Iron Cross couldn't be reintroduced and a would badge or medal for that matter.

[gi-rene]

Originally Posted by Dallas

Current German culture is so wrapped up in guilt for being a major cause of two world wars, they can't sperate the Iron Cross from their Imperialism and Nazism past, IMHO. I don't see a valid reason why the Iron Cross couldn't be reintroduced and a would badge or medal for that matter.

Then I guess Germany isn't a country anymore, because they don't want to admit they were tribes of barbarians in ancient days, they can't claim Prussian heritage so much anymore since Prussia has been split off... twice from the mainland, they don't want to remember Imperialism (though US Imperialism I will admit, probably contributed to me being here and alive), then they want to forget anything related to the Third Reich...

Sooooo where is Germany going to go?

I fully understand their reasoning, but like I said, it hasn't stopped Japan and they practically self punished themselves after the war with their Constitution... and are just now starting to try and break that mold.

[Dallas]

The problem with that analogy is that Japan as a whole has never admitted guilt for the war or the atrocities they committed. Japanese children are taught almost nothing about the war and absolutely zero about the atrocities committed by Japan during the war. Part of the reason for all of this is that Japan had no Nazi party, no one the occupying powers could easily single out and make an example of. Therefore over the decades for the most part the same powers have run Japan that ran Japan during the war. I remember reading about several Japanese historians over the years that knew the truth of Japans' crimes and have tried to investigate and or publish works about the war. They have virtuely all been intimidated and/or physically assaulted and little has been published in Japan. The people originally blocking these people were former military officers and former or even current higher level civil servants who didn't want the memory of the Army or government to loss face. Today it is the children of these men who do not want their fathers memiories dishonored that are running interference,

[Leatchy]

Why not bring back the Pour le Merite. The Blue Max doesn't seem to have the same sinister attachment as the Iron Cross. Saw a few Iron Crosses for sale at a flea market in Venice a couple of years ago for 25 euro each, that actually made me sad.