In 1938 , Hugh Wilson , the American ambassador to Germany , hosted a dinner for Lindbergh with Germany 's air chief , Hermann Göring and three central figures in German aviation , Ernst Heinkel , Adolf Baeumker , and Willy Messerschmitt . At this dinner Göring presented Lindbergh with the Commander Cross of the Order of the German Eagle . Lindbergh 's acceptance proved controversial after Kristallnacht , an anti-Jewish pogrom in Germany a few weeks later . Lindbergh declined to return the medal , later writing , " It seems to me that the returning of decorations , which were given in times of peace and as a gesture of friendship , can have no constructive effect . If I were to return the German medal , it seems to me that it would be an unnecessary insult . Even if war develops between us , I can see no gain in indulging in a spitting contest before that war begins . " Regarding this , Ambassador Wilson later wrote to Lindbergh , " Neither you , nor I , nor any other American present had any previous hint that the presentation would be made . I have always felt that if you refused the decoration , presented under those circumstances , you would have been guilty of a breach of good taste . It would have been an act offensive to a guest of the Ambassador of your country , in the house of the Ambassador . " At the urging of U.S. Ambassador Joseph Kennedy , Lindbergh wrote a secret memo to the British warning that a military response by Britain and France to Hitler 's violation of the Munich Agreement would be disastrous ; he claimed that France was militarily weak and Britain over-reliant on its navy . He urgently recommended that they strengthen their air power to force Hitler to redirect his aggression against " Asiatic Communism "
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Charles Lindbergh