Four German soldiers served in Afghanistan were awarded the first medals for military bravery on Monday more than 60 years after the Iron Cross, the most important military decoration commonly used in Nazi Germany was scrapped in 1945.

 German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung presented the Cross of Honor for Bravery medal to the soldiers at a ceremony held in Berlin.

 According to a statement of the German Defense Ministry, the soldiers were honored for risking their lives to rescue wounded soldiers and Afghan civilians after a suicide bomber attacked their patrol vehicle in the northern Afghan region of Kunduz in October 2008. Two German soldiers and five Afghan children were killed in the incident.

The Iron Cross medal was introduced in 1813 during the rule of Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III. But Adolf Hitler received an Iron Cross during his World War I service and, in 1939, added a swastika to the center of the traditional design. The medal became a symbol of Nazi Germany's attempt to conquer Europe.

The Cross of Honor for Bravery medal has a golden Maltese cross at the center, bearing the German federal eagle surrounded by oak leaves. It was introduced in October 2008 as the highest military decoration of the German armed forces, the Bundeswehr, to honor brave deeds of their soldiers at home and abroad.