During his February visit of the United States Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek awarded Josef and Ctirad Mašín at the Czech embassy in Washington. The Mašín brothers - sons of General Josef Mašín, an anti-Nazi resistance hero during World War II - together with Milan Paumer fought their way out of Czechoslovakia in 1953, having killed a cashier and 5 policemen. For some their violent escape remains a controversial issue and will never agree with the decoration.
