Today in History class me and Xwalrus2 were talking about the French foreign legion, in an offhand remark the possiblity of joining was tossed aroung pretty quickly I dissmissed the idea, but now I have been thinking about it and it seems more and more appealing. i was just wondereing if ther were any legionarres here or vets, information about the FFL is sparse and hard to come by so you guys are the smartest on the web so I thought Id ask you.
Max, souther boy from georgia
Here’s a Straight Dope column about it:
Did people really run away to join the French Foreign Legion?
That’s all I know.
thanks a bunchload
There was also a book a few years ago, I think the title was “Mouthful of Marbles”, or something like that.
It was a true story, written by a guy who was in the FFL and escaped. I can’t find the book on Amazon, nor have I seen it on bargain bin tables…but the review I read in the LA Times book review back then made the book sound interesting.
Maybe someone here will have better luck tracking the book down.
“A Mouthful of Rocks” by Christian Jennings.
Might cure you of a desire to join les kepis blancs.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0871133407/002-6318437-1320040?v=glance
Man, that Publisher’s Weekly review is priceless. “Hypnotically bland”?!
First, you must get into the proper mood.
Listen to The Legionnaire’s Lament by the Decemberists
Tres bien!
I once shared with a Ukrainian guy who went from the Red Army to a five year stint with the Legion. According to him, it seems it is very much a buyer’s market as far as the legion is concerned. Especially since the breakup of the USSR, there is now a glut of personnel with the kind of specialist training the Legion values. They can so easily get it prepackaged and hence it’s tough to get in without any appropriate highlights on your resume. Think combat medic or spectacular marksmanship ability. My roomie was an absolute fiend with electronics.
Have a look at the Spanish Foreign Legion. It’s probably even harder to get into and it’s meant to be an even more miserable existence but then again, perhaps hedonism isn’t your thing. I’m told I lead a rather ascetic life but I think even I’d draw my line somewhere between the French and Spanish incarnations of the Legion.
Oh yeah… upon preview, I pondered the meaning of your screen name. Do you hunt fascists or you are a fascist? Generalissimo Franco got his start with the Spanish Foreign Legion so there are some footsteps to follow in. Or not.
Oh, he’s a fascist.
Gest, the Spanish Legión was only ‘foreign’ in the sense that foreigners MAY join, most of the time it was 75% Spaniards, and they have stopped accepting foreigners.
One of the ideas behind the Legions was to have a corps of long-timer soldiers-by-trade who did not have too many concerns about mama and the little sweetheart back home and could be assigned to “do the dirty deeds”, and leave the fresh young draftee boys for more conventional battles.
In August I gave some serious thought to running away and joining the French Foreign Legion. But ties to home kept me from leaving just then. I did start learning French though.
Check out this from bump’s second link:
Perhaps that life would appeal to a facist…