WHY OUR COMBAT MEDICS CARRY A SMALL GERMAN FLAG

When I was talking to our combat medics one day, they showed me all the gear they carry in their packs and in the vehicle. In among the tourniquets, bandages and IV bags I suddenly spotted something unusual: a small, neatly folded German flag.

Of course I wanted to know why a German flag rides along with all the medical kit. Carrying your own country’s flag as a piece of equipment was something I had only ever seen from American special forces, who are a good deal more patriotic than we Germans are anyway.

Our medics told me what it is about for them: whenever they can, the guys and girls try to hang the flag above the patient. In a tent, in camp, in a vehicle, it makes no difference. A wounded soldier may not be able to hear, or his awareness may be limited some other way, but the moment he sees the three familiar colors and the eagle, he knows: “You are going to be fine. You are in the hands of German soldiers, your comrades, and we are getting you out of here.” It also gives him a piece of home in an otherwise hostile place.

Whether they picked the idea up from the Americans or came up with it themselves does not really matter: it shows how seriously our medics take their craft. My respect for them went up another 200% that day.

And it shows something else: Our flag is a lot more than a piece of cloth!

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Cover image: Tyrosize