He was an Austrian serving in the German army. German military law specifically prohibited foreigners from ever holding a commission in the German army. But they could be NCO's. He was promoted to corporal and decorated for accepting tough and dangerous assignments in combat. AH's leaders gave him glowing fitness reports and he was decorated. During the Battle of the Somme in October 1916 Hitler received a wound in his left thigh when a shell exploded at the entrance to the dispatch runners' dugout. He spent almost two months in the Red Cross hospital at Beelitz in Brandenburg, and was awarded the Wound Badge in black on 18 May 1918. Awarded the Iron Cross Second Class on 12 February 1915, and the Iron Cross First Class on 4 August 1918, both while he served in the Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment 16 of the Royal Bavarian Army. On 15 October 1918, he and several comrades were temporarily blinded due to a British mustard-gas attack. After initial treatment, Hitler was hospitalized in Pasewalk in Pomerania, and was still there when he learned of Germany's defeat on 10 November. The man was not a pussy. He saw more direct combat than 99.99% of the "Fobbits" who flew into Bagram Airbase and flew out again 6 months to a year later with a fucking MSM without ever having left the wire or fired their weapon except maybe to zero it. If that.