German troops honored for bravery, 1st since WWII

BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel presented medals for bravery on Monday, marking the first time since World War II that the nation has bestowed such an honor, long tainted by the Nazi military effort.

Merkel honored four soldiers who rushed to aid injured soldiers and civilians after a suicide bombing in Afghanistan, saying that the Cross of Honor for Bravery is an “important innovation” in Germany’s military tradition and that they were deserving of the award.

It is another sign of Germany’s emergence from its post-WWII diplomatic and military shell since the country’s reunification in 1990, as it has taken on more responsibility in conflicts around the world.

“An army in deployment needs such an honor,” Merkel said in the ceremony at the chancellory. “Our soldiers need to receive more recognition for their service.”

The soldiers — Staff Sgt. Markus Geist, 28, and Master Sgts. Jan Berges, 29, Alexander Dietzen, 33, and Henry Lukacz 28 — were half a kilometer (mile) from a German ambulance struck by a suicide bomber on Oct. 20, 2008 in Afghanistan’s northern Kunduz province. The blast killed two German soldiers and five Afghan children. Two other soldiers and a child were injured.

Merkel said the soldiers raced to the scene of the explosion, risking their lives to save the injured as the vehicle burned and the munitions it was carrying exploded.

After her brief remarks, Merkel pinned the medal on each soldiers chest. It features a golden Maltese cross with a German eagle in the center, on a ribbon in the colors of the German flag — black, red and gold — and decorated with double oak leaves.

The military has had no medal for bravery since it stopped awarding the Iron Cross, which was first issued in 1813 but bestowed so frequently under the Nazis that it become inexorably associated with Hitler’s regime.

Since reunification, Germany has taken cautious steps toward becoming more engaged militarily.

In 1992, Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl broke a taboo against sending troops abroad by deploying military medics to support the U.N. mission in Cambodia.

Today, the country has some 7,200 troops outside of Germany, including 3,830 in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force and more than 2,000 in Kosovo. Smaller contingents are deployed in Bosnia, in naval patrols off Lebanon and the Horn of Africa, and elsewhere.

Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung introduced the cross last year, saying the German military’s role in the world was expanding and soldiers in the line of fire in global hot spots deserved recognition for their sacrifice.

“Through their service, they are an example of justice and freedom for their comrades,” Jung said of the soldiers honored Monday at the ceremony.

Ulrich Kirsch, leader of a union representing German soldiers, told television broadcaster ARD that the medal is a fitting recognition of the military’s increasing role.

“The soldiers are so close to death and injury — that’s not the situation in other jobs,” Kirsch said. “We consider this honor absolutely appropriate,” he added.

The new order is an extension of the Bundeswehr’s current range of four decorations, which are given for “loyal services and in appreciation of exemplary soldierly acquittal of duty.”