 On May 29, 2009 Marco Kroon, who fought in Afghanistan, was awarded the Militaire Willems-orde, the highest medal awarded by the Netherlands, which hadn't been given to anyone for over 50 years.In December 2009, the relatives of 21 Dutch military who died on foreign missions were presented with official government documents honouring the deceased.At a ceremony in The Hague Defence Minister Van Middelkoop (ChristenUnie) personally handed the documents to their relatives, who also received a commemorative sculpture.