>>>>Is it possible for a person to receive this honor twice?
>>>
>>>I think it was like the Knight's Cross in that it could be upgraded,
>>>but I'm not certain of that.
>>
>>several notables have received the honor in different classes (Adm.
>>Yamamoto, Adm. Kondo) but it's unclear whether the upgrade to 1st
>>Class was because of extra-conspicuous bravery and leadership or
>>because they already had one and that was the only place to go with a
>>second award.
>
>Well, the latter is how the Knight's Cross worked. The KC was the
>highest level of the Iron Cross apart from the Grand Cross (which was
>more of a political award, in practice if not theory), and the Oak
>Leaves, etc. weren't higher levels so much as a "the Knight's Cross,
>again. And again." kind of a thing. I.e, it wasn't possible to win
>the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves outright no matter what
>amazing thing you did, you had to have the regular version first.
>
>The classes of the Order of the Golden Kite worked a little
>differently in that they were partly tied to one's rank (Nazi medals
>explicitly didn't work that way as part of the Reich's "one nation,
>one people, one leader" principle), but a similar mechanic could've
>been applied in practice.

it's rather easy, when the award is for "leadership", to say "well, what does an enlisted man LEAD?" or "well, he's an oberst. of course he was leading!"

-Z

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Remember kids: guns make you stupid, duct tape makes you smart.