French Foreign Legion l. Jones
The French Foreign Legion
For many, the French Foreign Legion evokes images of adventure, perhaps men traipsing over sand dunes in khaki knickers, and flapped white hats -- tough, and a bit, shall we say, unorthodox in a mercenary kind of way. However, the French Foreign Legion was, and continues to be, a legitimate fighting force, unique to France and the French experience, while still capturing the collective imagination of the world. Yet, the Legion's colonial legacy has in the past, and continues in the present, to complicate other nation's attitudes about the force. Not only does this effect the historical perception of the organization, but its legitimacy in current world affairs.
The Legion was founded in the year 1831 by King Louis Philippe. Although, without question, the Legion is patently French in its ideology, loyalty, and outlook, it is actually an international band of soldiers, joined together to fight for the interests of France. To be sure, because of its rather "eclectic" nature, many consider the Legion to be the essence of mercenary armies, a ragtag band of men of every nationality, race, and even creed -- as well as of every moral and ethical standard, from the brutish thug, to the idealistic soldier, fighting for God and country. However, the true French Foreign Legion is not so simple. In fact, to the French people, themselves, the Legion is a force imbibed with a rich and honorable history -- a representation of the collective French consciousness of the power of France, in spite of its international membership.
The reality of the French Foreign Legion is that it is made up of highly trained elite, volunteer forces, who have historically demonstrated striking courage. Indeed, the Legion is particularly known for its historical willingness to "fight to the death," rather than surrender to their enemies. In fact, the Legionnaire "code of honor," is a strong factor in their willingness to fight with particular ferocity. Consider the following:
THE LEGIONNAIRE'S CODE OF HONOR
1. Legionnaire: you are a volunteer serving France faithfully and with honor.
2. Every Legionnaire is your brother-at-arms, irrespective of his nationality, race or creed. You will demonstrate this by an unwavering and straightforward solidarity which must always bind together members of the same family.
3. Respectful of the Legion's traditions, honoring your superiors, discipline and comradeship are your strength, courage and loyalty your virtues.
4. Proud of your status as a legionnaire, you will display this pride, by your turnout, always impeccable, your behavior, ever worthy, though modest, your living-quarters, always tidy.
5. An elite soldier: you will train vigorously, you will maintain your weapons as if it were your most precious possession, you will keep your body in the peak of condition, always fit.
6. A mission once given to you becomes sacred to you, you will accomplish it to the end and at all costs.
7. In combat: you will act without relish of your tasks, or hatred; you will respect the vanquished enemy and will never abandon neither your wounded nor your dead, nor will you under any circumstances surrender your arms. (Embassy of France in the United States - February 26, 2001)
Further, it is important to note that the very mercenary and voluntary nature of the Legion often entails a kind of isolation or loss of the previous life of the individual soldier -- for, cut off from family, social, and even national ties, the Legionnaire is often in the unique position of "having nothing to lose," and thus, in possession of a strong willingness to die in battle. Again, in the French Embassy's description of the Legion it explains this nature of the Legionnaire:
one perceives the Legion as a large family. A man who has left behind his past, his social and family background, transfers to the Legion his need of an ideal, his affection equating the Legion with that of a homeland, to the point of sacrificing everything to it with a generosity which has astonished the world. That accounts for the motto on the front of the Legion's Museum: LEGIO PATRIA NOSTRA (Ibid).
Although the Legion has participated in many notable battles since its inception, perhaps most notably the battle near Palo Verde, Mexico in 1863, which is represented on the Legionnaire flag, the majority of the world's consciousness of the French Foreign Legion is made up of events during and after the Second World War. The reason for this, many assert, is due to the tremendous...
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