# Has a nation ever given an enemy combatant a medal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 25, 2022, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174 "2022-09-25T00:05:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Celtic\_Kitsune](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celtic_kitsune/32/12086_2.png) [@Celtic\_Kitsune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celtic_Kitsune)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/1 "2022-09-25T00:05:37Z")
Strange question I know, but I recently finished reading a book on the Falklands War where the admiration of British soldiers for an unidentified Argentinian combatant is expressed. Said soldier was killed during the battle. I was wondering if it was ever the case where a combatant went unrecognised by their own side but was honoured by their opponents? For example their own side didn’t give them a medal but the other side did? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/2 "2022-09-25T00:24:27Z")
Sure: > Other than the awards to unknown soldiers of World War I, the [Medal of Honor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medal_of_Honor), the highest United States valor decoration, has not been awarded to a non-U.S. recipient. The highest valor decoration which non-U.S. individuals may receive is the service crosses of the services – the Army [Distinguished Service Cross](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distinguished_Service_Cross_(United_States)), the [Navy Cross](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navy_Cross_(United_States)), and the [Air Force Cross](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Force_Cross_(United_States)). To date, only one award of the Air Force Cross have been made to a non-U.S. individual, [Garry Gordon Cooper](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Gordon_Cooper). The Army has awarded 440 Distinguished Service Crosses to non-U.S. individuals, with most of these having come in World War I (154) and World War II (258). The Navy and Marine Corps have awarded 124 Navy Crosses to non-U.S. individuals, again with most of these having come in World War I (100) and World War II (19). [SOURCE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-U.S._recipients_of_U.S._gallantry_awards) Another example (France awarding medals): - [Hero Americans Who Thwarted Train Attack Awarded Legion d’Honneur](https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/french-train-attack/hero-americans-who-thwarted-train-attack-awarded-legion-dhonneur-n414681) Doubtless there are other examples. ---
**Author:** ![Celtic\_Kitsune](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celtic_kitsune/32/12086_2.png) [@Celtic\_Kitsune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celtic_Kitsune)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/3 "2022-09-25T00:29:29Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Doubtless there are other examples. Thank you, I meant awarded to those who were active enemy combatants though, for example if the UK gave an award to the Argentine soldier who held up their troops single-handedly for so long. Kind of, “Well if you won’t recognise him then _we_ will!”, sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/4 "2022-09-25T00:30:14Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Another example (France awarding medals): > > - [Hero Americans Who Thwarted Train Attack Awarded Legion d’Honneur](https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/french-train-attack/hero-americans-who-thwarted-train-attack-awarded-legion-dhonneur-n414681) > > Doubtless there are other examples Surely an American wouldn’t qualify as an ENEMY combatant? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/5 "2022-09-25T00:30:45Z")
I misunderstood what was being asked. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/6 "2022-09-25T00:31:48Z")
I can’t imagine that ever happening and cannot find any examples but who knows? It’s a big world. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/7 "2022-09-25T00:51:48Z")
I think that would be “political suicide” sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/8 "2022-09-25T00:59:37Z")
Maybe it could happen if the “enemy combatant” was a traitor to his people, and switched sides, and his now country thanked him? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/9 "2022-09-25T01:01:36Z")
I think it would more likely be recognised by the “honours of war” - allowing enemy combatants to surrender, keep their sidearms and uniforms, and be saluted. Happened with some of the Confederate surrenders at the end of the US Civil War, for example. > **[Honours of war](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honours_of_war)** > > The honours of war are a set of privileges that are granted to a defeated army during the surrender ceremony. The honours symbolise the valour of the defeated army, and grew into a custom during the age of early modern warfare. Typically a surrendering garrison was permitted to march out with drums beating and flags flying, after which they would become prisoners of war or granted free passage. > When full honours of war are granted, the defeated army may march out with its flags flying, drums b... ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/10 "2022-09-25T01:04:03Z")
IIRC Genghis Khan would sometimes recruit enemy soldiers into his army. He recognized talent when he saw it and was known for promoting based on ability and not social standing. I believe he did this with a few enemies he defeated. Basically said you rock, how about joining the winning team? And some did. Not a medal as such but still… ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/11 "2022-09-25T01:08:29Z")
Probably better than the alternative … ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/12 "2022-09-25T01:18:07Z")
Eddie Chapman, a British spy who tricked the Nazis. They thought he was working for them, but he was giving them false information. They gave him an Iron Cross. Maybe not exactly a ‘combatant’ but I think it counts. > **[Eddie Chapman](https://www.mi5.gov.uk/eddie-chapman)** > > Eddie Chapman was a professional criminal in the years before the Second World War. He was a member of a "jelly gang", which specialised in robbing safes by blowing them open using the explosive gelig > **[Eddie Chapman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Chapman)** > > Edward Arnold Chapman (16 November 1914 – 11 December 1997) was an English criminal and wartime spy. During the Second World War he offered his services to Nazi Germany as a spy and subsequently became a British double agent. His British Secret Service handlers codenamed him Agent Zigzag in acknowledgement of his erratic personal history. > He had a number of criminal aliases known by the British police, amongst them Edward Edwards, Arnold Thompson and Edward Simpson. His German codename was Fr... ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/13 "2022-09-25T01:33:10Z")
Not quite what you were asking for, but how about a town honoring a Japanese pilot for bombing them? [https://www.brookings.or.us/291/Fujita-Sword](https://www.brookings.or.us/291/Fujita-Sword) ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/14 "2022-09-25T02:03:09Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > Surely an American wouldn’t qualify as an ENEMY combatant? Though technically they would though wouldn’t they? During WW2 the officially recognized French government was was the Vichy regime, whose forces fought alongside the Nazis (in many places in Africa they fought the US and the western allies) So when US troops received medals for their service from the French after the war, they were technically enemy combatants (I don’t know if any of the actual troops who fought the Vichy French later received medals from the French) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/15 "2022-09-25T02:06:56Z")
There are at least 3 Australian memorials for Japanese deaths in WWII. They are in Darwin, Cowra and on Christmas Island. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/16 "2022-09-25T02:23:43Z")
I mean, many of us live in a country still riddled with statues and schools named after Confederates. Perhaps not a _medal_ per se, but the US has a long history of honoring traitors to the US. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/17 "2022-09-25T02:29:52Z")
Not quite the same as a medal, but there’s one German and two Italian POWs from WW2 buried at Arlington National Cemetery (they died while in custody). ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/18 "2022-09-25T03:36:17Z")
Oskar Schindler is buried on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. The only member of the Nazi party to be buried there. Not a medal but certainly an honor bestowed by Israel. ---
**Author:** ![RadioWave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RadioWave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadioWave)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/19 "2022-09-25T03:45:30Z")
This comes pretty close. The US Army erected a memorial to German Lt Freidrich Lengfeld who died attempting to rescue an American trapped in a mine field. > **[Hürtgen Forest: The heroic German officer killed in a minefield trying to...](https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/hurtgen-forest-the-heroic-german-officer-killed-in-a-minefield-trying-to-save-an-american.html?safari=1)** > > October 7, 1994, saw a strange sight over the Hürtgen War Cemetery in Hürtgen, Germany. The cemetery is the final home of 3001 bodies – mostly German and ---
**Author:** ![Plutonium\_Chef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/plutonium_chef/32/11211_2.png) [@Plutonium\_Chef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plutonium_Chef)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/20 "2022-09-25T04:02:55Z")
Related: During World War II, 3 British Commonwealth personnel received (posthumous, post-war) Victoria crosses based on recommendations from the _Germans_ who fought them: - [Sergeant Thomas Frank Durrant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Frank_Durrant) - [Flying Officer Lloyd Allan Trigg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_Trigg) - [Lieutenant-Commander Gerard Broadmead Roope](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_Trigg) _The enemy deserves an award – from their own side!_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174.md?page=2)