# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/21 "2022-09-25T04:45:54Z")
I wonder if the Wermacht and Red Army bestowed any medals on each other, and if that might qualify. Were any medals en-route when Operation Barbarossa commenced? ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/22 "2022-09-25T05:02:40Z")
Crown Prince Jean Bernadotte (future Charles XIV John, King of Sweden and Norway) apparently received an 1813 Grand Cross of the Iron Cross from Prussia, on account of his role in the Sixth Coalition. This is despite his previous service as one of the Marshals of the French Empire, including a campaign against Prussia in 1806. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/23 "2022-09-25T05:04:04Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > 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. And the British have honored at least one traitor to Great Britain. > **[A Great Englishman? British Views of George Washington, from Revolution to...](https://allthingsliberty.com/2022/03/a-great-englishman-british-views-of-george-washington-from-revolution-to-rapprochement/)** > > In June 1921, George Washington, the victor of Yorktown, arrived in London. His journey across the storm-tossed Atlantic had not been without difficulty, and... ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/24 "2022-09-25T07:49:44Z")
Not quite a medal but the leader of the Turkish defenders at Gallipoli in the Great War was Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who became leader of the post-Ottoman state. His enemies erected a [memorial to him on Anzac Parade in Canberra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kemal_Atat%C3%BCrk_Memorial,_Canberra), which is otherwise lined with Australian military memorials. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/25 "2022-09-25T08:00:23Z")
Again, not a medal, but a story that might be of interest in this context is that of SMS Emden. It was a German light cruiser which, during the early months of WWI, was operating single-handedly in East Asia and captured or destroyed a number of Allied merchant and warships there. It was finally defeated by an Australian ship and its crew taken prisoners of war, following the British press published glowing eulogies in praise of the captain commanding the Emden, Karl von Müller, for his gallantry. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/26 "2022-09-25T12:47:24Z")
> [@RadioWave](#): > > 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. > > [https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/hurtgen-forest-the-heroic-german-officer-killed-in-a-minefield-trying-to-save-an-american.html?safari=1](https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/hurtgen-forest-the-heroic-german-officer-killed-in-a-minefield-trying-to-save-an-american.html?safari=1) That’s a fascinating story and a well researched article, but I have one nitpick: the river near Aachen which saw the battle in the Hürtgen forest is not the river _Ruhr_, but the smaller river _Rur_. It’s an understandable error, as the river Ruhr is one of the most important rivers in Germany, and the industrial center region Ruhrgebiet (Ruhr area) is named after it, while the Rur is a smaller, rather unimportant river that’s mostly only known because of that bitter battle in WWII. > **[Ruhr (river)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruhr_(river))** > > The Ruhr is a river in western Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia), a right tributary (east-side) of the Rhine. > The source of the Ruhr is near the town of Winterberg in the mountainous Sauerland region, at an elevation of approximately 670 metres (2,200 ft). It flows into the lower Rhine at an elevation of only 17 metres (56 ft) in the municipal area of Duisburg. Its total length is 219 km (136 mi), its average discharge is 79 cubic metres per second (2,800 cu ft/s) at Mülheim near its mouth. Thus,... > **[Rur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rur)** > > The Rur or Roer (German: Rur \[ʁuːɐ̯\]; Dutch and Limburgish: Roer, .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Dutch pronunciation: \[ˈruːr\], Limburgish: \[ˈʀuːʀ˦\]; French: Rour) is a major river that flows through portions of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. It is a right (eastern) tributary to the Meuse (Dutch: Maas). About 90 percent of It... ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/27 "2022-09-25T13:43:04Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Eddie Chapman, a British spy who tricked the Nazis. > > … > > Maybe not exactly a ‘combatant’ but I think it counts. Along very similar lines, there was also Juan Pujol García. García first offered to spy for the British, who were basically like “uh, thanks, but no thanks.” Undeterred, García then approached the Germans, with the intention of feeding them as much misinformation as possible. Eventually the British caught wind of what he was doing, and began to work with him so that his intentional misinformation wouldn’t accidentally lead the Germans to real targets. García created numerous fake sub-agents, all of whom were on Germany’s payroll. At the end of the war, Britain awarded García was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire, and was also awarded the Iron Cross by Germany. Germany even gave him a pension, which he collected for a few years. In 1949, he faked his own death, fearing that the Germans might eventually learn that they were deceived, and might hunt him down and kill him. > **[Juan Pujol García](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Pujol_Garc%C3%ADa)** > > Iron Cross, Second Class > Juan Pujol García MBE (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Spanish: \[ˈxwan puˈʝol ɣaɾˈθi.a\]; 14 February 1912 – 10 October 1988), also known as Joan Pujol i García (Catalan: \[ʒuˈan puˈʒɔl i ɣəɾˈsi.ə\]), was a Spanish spy who acted as a double agent loyal to Great Britain against Nazi Germany during World War I... ---
**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, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/28 "2022-09-25T14:05:47Z")
Thanks for the answers everyone, some very interesting information! ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/29 "2022-09-25T14:14:13Z")
Closest you’ll probably find is the [Battle of Camaron](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Camar%C3%B3n) during the French occupation of Mexico where a greatly outnumbered group of French Foreign Legion soldiers fought so hard they were honored after the battle and to this day during ceremonies about the battle in Mexico, Mexican soldiers are required to salute a French Foreign Legion soldier as a mark of respect. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/30 "2022-09-25T22:02:15Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > 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. Those remnants were originally established by local governments and states, not “the US”. A better example is military facilities named for onetime Confederates. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/31 "2022-09-25T22:25:00Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > > [@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) The Vichy government was well out of power when the Americans foiled the terrorists on the train in 2015. ---
**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, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/32 "2022-09-25T23:45:23Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > The Vichy government was well out of power when the Americans foiled the terrorists on the train in 2015. yeah but its still an obvious answer to the OP though. Its a good bet that some of thousands of [American](https://franceintheus.org/spip.php?article3150) or [British](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-39922912) troops who were given medals by France, were actually enemy combatants, having fought against France in somewhere like Morocco, Lebanon or Madagascar. ---
**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 26, 2022, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/33 "2022-09-26T01:23:21Z")
That’s assuming the Vichy government was the legitimate government of France, and not a usurper of the 3rd Republic, as de Gaulle argued. He would probably say that British and Americans who fought against Vichy were on the side of the legitimate government of France, the Free French of the 3rd Republic. ---
**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 26, 2022, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/34 "2022-09-26T01:37:07Z")
A European colleague said today that I should be more animated by the death of Elizabeth R because my parents were born in British India, subjects of the Queen’s father. I asked if he was similarly attached to the current Russian or German governments, whose predecessors controlled the countries his parents were born in at the time (during WWII). ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/35 "2022-09-26T01:48:21Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > That’s assuming the Vichy government was the legitimate government of France, and not a usurper of the 3rd Republic, as de Gaulle argued. He would probably say that British and Americans who fought against Vichy were on the side of the legitimate government of France, the Free French of the 3rd Republic. I mean he would claim that but it doesn’t make it so. Unlike some other occupied countries, the overwhelming majority of the French civilian and military leadership stayed in France. De Gaulle himself was a minor figure prior to the battle of France. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/36 "2022-09-26T01:56:51Z")
Douglas MacArthur was awarded Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun. Granted, it was after the war ended. Still, it is because of the war - and the subsequent occupation - that he received it, so it’s likely as close as any we’re gonna find. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/E-v2l_hG84E/hqdefault.jpg "General Macarthur Receives Japan's Highest Honour (1960)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-v2l_hG84E) ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/37 "2022-09-26T08:54:27Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Oskar Schindler is buried on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. The only member of the Nazi party to be buried there. In a similar vein, Israel bestowed the honour of Righteous Among the Nations to [Anton Schmid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Schmid), a Viennese soldier in the Nazi German army who saved hundreds of Jews. The title was also given to several German officers who served in World War II (Heinz Drossel, Karl Plagge, Albert Battel, and Wilhelm Hosenfeld). ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/38 "2022-09-26T10:53:59Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > During WW2 the officially recognized French government was was the Vichy regime Not universally and not after the German occupation of the Vichy zone. Awards from de Gaulle’s Provisional Government could hardly have been considered as coming from the Vichy regime. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/39 "2022-09-26T14:40:29Z")
Not Enemy Combatants per se, but there are many benevolent westerners, that joined India in their fight against the British for independence. Some of the prominent ones are : 1. Annie Besant - A remarkable atheist English lady whose contributions to India are many and India remains grateful to her. [Annie Besant - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Besant) 2. Samuel Evans Stokes : A quaker from Phili, came to India - taught Indians how to grow apples (He was the Johnny Appleseed of India), worked with the poor folks and helped India in its independence movement. [How a Quaker missionary from Philly became India's Johnny Appleseed - CSMonitor.com](https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2013/0422/How-a-Quaker-missionary-from-Philly-became-India-s-Johnny-Appleseed) 3. Benjamin Guy Horniman : An Englishman that also played a great part in India’s freedom struggle. [B. G. Horniman - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._G._Horniman) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/40 "2022-09-26T15:50:23Z")
Another peripheral example: In 1938 Charles Lindbergh was awarded the Service Order of the German Eagle by Goering, undoubtedly in recognition of Lindbergh’s stance in favor of isolationism and effusive praise of Germany’s war machine. Lindbergh was subsequently urged to return the medal but to my knowledge never did, even after the U.S. entered WWII.\* \*as a counterexample, air personnel preparing bombs for the Doolittle Raid on Japan attached medals awarded by Japan before the war to members of the American military, along with helpful comments like “You’ll get a BANG out of this”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174.md?page=3)