I was in the legion from may 1985 to 1990, these video is almost exactly the period that I was, miss calvi, son des guitar, chez Emile back in 1988 in calvi. So many great times due to the legion, I’m 55 but still miss so much, and the man at the last was Bucket, there were 3-4 Americans in 2rep in 1988, Tony , Bucket, spoon , miss u guys so much
"It's better to be a deserter of the foreign legion than a deserter from the 25th potatolauncherregiment." Best statement ever! You gotta love these guys!!! 😂
Oi GUY.....I was in the First Battallion of The........Oh That Regiment U just mentioned.....And...WE were ALL Damn Fine Chaps...I,ll have you know...I,ll take this ,Slur, Further...If that,s what it Warrents...Wot SAY You Sir.. Or Be Damned.?
Oh how wish I was able to join the military and even though I did quite well on the exams, I was only to be refused a day later due to an eye problem. So I then took a course in commercial diving at the Canadian Underwater Training Centre and it was the hardest thing I ever did while being taught by an ex clearance navy diver. However to me I'll still never measure up to a Legionnaire but I do know one thing. I would've given the Legion my all and probably even double and the main reason as to why is because this would've given me so much more, an opportunity to fill in the void that still haunts me even as of today...loneliness.
This is such a old time romantic view of the foreign legion. The foreign legion now days fight terrorism around the world and fighting for France is a secondary thing. Ofc it's vital that you fight for a "A" nation and that you can respect the orders you are given. But the fact that you are fighting for France is less important than that you are fighting for the league and that you are fighting for a better future for all of us.
maybe they should not reject so many? a few badass characters facing 10 yrs for armed robbery would have a hell of an incentive to do 10 in the Legion.
At the legion, there is no time to be bored. the legion moves a lot, because it trains a lot, especially the combat companies like the 2e REP and the REI. Solitude?? A legionnaire is never alone, thanks to the esprit de corps, therefore of brothers in arms instilled from the start. As for deprivation, there are strict rules at the legion and each candidate is warned before signing his five-year contract. So don't cry after signing
the legion is the pride of france , no one would say that these are the damned and as a croatian i can only say thank you for the education of one of our top military ppl General Ante Gotovina , a real hero and our pride in croatia ( and all the other legionnaires who fought with us against the serbs ) . Amitie Legionnaire you showed us how to kick bad guys asses and whack them , Merci , the legion has its place in our history books concerning croatia , that is a great honor and all of them deserve it . Amitie Legionnaire !!! Jivili France & croatia , as we use to say Bog i Hrvati ( God and the croatians ) Bog i Legionari , JIvili hvala , svaka vam cast ( live long and thank every part of you ( that is the translation) you have a place in our hearts . you are always welcome in Croatia and you will always find a place to be ( of course for free ) , we are very thankful for your support and we will never forget it , we celebrate our heroes , don´t wonder when you travel through croatia and see signs at the highways with the saying " welcome to the land of Ante Gotovina " . Amitie Legionnaire & Bog ( Bog=God we use to greet us with Bog )
William James at one point, discussing the terrible cost of war, spoke of the need for a "moral equivalent of war" for the preservation of Western civilization. The very eloquent colonel of the Foreign Legion here suggests that war will provide a moral regeneration of the decadent, peace-loving civilization which the Foreign Legion is hired to protect. Paradoxical.
RESPECT to The Legion. . The old soldiers are well looked after unlike the uncivilized UK where they are left living on the streets or begging money off the state to pay the bills
The camaraderie, esprit de corps, and their special code, is what separates this military unit from all others. Backstabbing, individualism, selfishness, destroying a man's career on purpose, are not uncommon traits of the U. S. armed forces. No wonder the U. S. is in irreversible decline......
i feel the world would not be better off without them, perhaps better off without the need for them, as long as the need exists let us hope they remain ready to serve
In Part 1 of this series, he's named as John Barquette or Marquette. Former US Army M-60 gunner from Vietnam. Now 7 years after, I would hope he is a Master Sergeant.
6:20 Disagree with this. The instinct is usually suppressed somewhat however given circumstances it opens out. The human problem is when the natural killer instinct is not corralled by training. The Legion to a great degree removes those who are often uncontrolled from the societies of many countries and ethnic groups. So perhaps that is s very good thing.
18:08 the commander is definitely a cool dude ..i could sit and we could discuss things in general intellectually If I was 25 again... guess where I would be..mon ami
5:20 the Indochina situation started VERY differently. Early along, most in the Legion were former battle experienced Waffen SS...they went through the Viet Cong like a hot knife through butter. Later, after some press got wind of this it became 'Non-PC' and most Germans were sent home and back to civilian life. After that, loss was only a matter of time.
the French loss was not due to the quality of the fighting men but of the General Staff which made a tremendous mistake in attempting to force a head-to-head battle with the Viets in an undefendable position. Bad strategy assured the loss no matter how well the FFL fought.
@@dickvarga6908 exactly. For God's sake, Dien Bien Phu was in the middle of enemy territory. The French generals thought that they can resupply Dien Bien Phu garrison by air because the Viet Minh didn't have air assets. Despite the fact that the French garrison was in the enemy's rear. Big mistake on their part. The French would have been better off maintain their hold in Red River Delta in Northern Vietnam. They could have instead have more men available for counter guerilla operations in the Mekong Delta and central Highlands of southern Vietnam. This could have given them political leverage to help anti-communist Vietnamese more popularity. Because at this point in the war the French wanted an independent pro-French Vietnam. Wisely playing in the fact that many Vietnamese, even the ultra nationalist ones, resented Chinese hegemony. Which in the light of Mao's seizure of power in Beijing in 1949 and his robust intervention in Korea, was an all too prescient reality. But the French military strategy was not capable of achieving this political objective.
If you read a copy of biography on Mike Calvert the post war commander of the british S.A.S he clearly states that when the unit was reformed in the 1950`s ` several` volunteers were former legion soldiers who deserted due to lack of combat and wanted to see action Calvert stated they where the back bone of the unit in the early days ( I think they jumped ship in port ) at least one of them was a former German infantry corporal but claimed to be Polish .
a whole battalion of legionnaires were wiped out in a couple of hours at Den Bien Phu, Vietnam, 1954.... the Vietmin artillery barrage was devastating and basically around 500 out of 700 were killed almost instantly....a hundred or so crawled away and managed to survive
Bullshit! there have never been 500 legionnaires instantly wiped out by a vietminh barrage. The legionnaires were decimated after several combats of an extreme violence often with the hand-to-hand combat with the knife, or with the individual shovel, sharpened on rock to cut like a razor, because they had more ammunition. the badly wounded legionnaires who could still walk asked to join their comrades on forward combat posts. They knew it was over soon and even if it meant dying, they wanted to be close to their brothers in arms and die together. there were the last volunteers (to help friends) to parachute onto DBP. in the middle of the fighting. the plane fell very low to have a chance of not being shot down. volunteers could smell gunpowder and death before jumping. some were killed upon reaching the ground. many had never parachuted.
Alastair West The banter in the British Armed Forces would be halve if it was not for the Rockapes ! By the way I loved my time in the RAF REGT, but I now sick of Bananas ( A banter joke)
La France est ingrate, les français sont de tristes italiens, et c'est regrettable,mais une fois qu'on y est on y est heureux, comme le disent les allemands, qui ont pourtant un bien beau pays, on y est comme Dieu en France
I worked with a Maori guy who served nine years with the legion as a paratrooper. He was a top man. One time we were sitting in this cafe when a couple of meth-heads came in and started causing trouble; scaring the staff. He looked up from his bacon and eggs and asked them politely but very firmly to leave. They thought about arguing the toss for a nano second then left in a cloud of shame. They were looking into the eyes of a man who could back up the weight of his words with action if need be. It was the only time I ever heard him raise his voice. He never swore.
Im in my head 80 % in my mind of heading to France . The 20 % is into my son here in England . Go ffl or go doctors and get medicated up by the Doctors for the rest of my life . Fuk man dontvno wat to do . Been training hard to
Did you go or are you still here ? It’s funny, I faced the same situation many years ago, I stayed and when my son was 10 she took him away from me anyway .. I wish I’d gone to the legion !!!
To be the last man standing is the reason I didn't join the legion, that and the Prussian half of me totally rejects serving France, so I went U.S. Army Special Ops.
wise choice...anybody with such a stupid outlook would not last one month...Prussia has been extinct for 80 years anyways...what are you talking about??!
I was in the legion from may 1985 to 1990, these video is almost exactly the period that I was, miss calvi, son des guitar, chez Emile back in 1988 in calvi. So many great times due to the legion, I’m 55 but still miss so much, and the man at the last was Bucket, there were 3-4 Americans in 2rep in 1988, Tony , Bucket, spoon , miss u guys so much
Whatever happened to Bucket?
I kind regret when I asked to leave in Aubagne in 1993.....i was doing well in the selection.
@@alexfrag no worry my dear friend, you can try again
"It's better to be a deserter of the foreign legion than a deserter from the 25th potatolauncherregiment." Best statement ever! You gotta love these guys!!! 😂
Oi GUY.....I was in the First Battallion of The........Oh That Regiment U just mentioned.....And...WE were ALL Damn Fine Chaps...I,ll have you know...I,ll take this ,Slur, Further...If that,s what it Warrents...Wot SAY You Sir.. Or Be Damned.?
I would have missed that. Thank you
Guy Calabrese :D
Possibly the best documentary on The Legion. I'm french, and my life is a mess, and i seriously thinking of going there.
+King Lifdy but you as french you should try the commando marines
if you did than you had your 5 years!
Do it
You wrote this 5 years ago. Did you join?
did you do it
This was a pretty cool documentary, total respect for the Legionnaires.
The greatest honor of my life will be to walk among those men and call then brothers.
then what are u waiting for?
Get to Aubagne bro
thankyou brother.
Oh how wish I was able to join the military and even though I did quite well on the exams, I was only to be refused a day later due to an eye problem. So I then took a course in commercial diving at the Canadian Underwater Training Centre and it was the hardest thing I ever did while being taught by an ex clearance navy diver. However to me I'll still never measure up to a Legionnaire but I do know one thing. I would've given the Legion my all and probably even double and the main reason as to why is because this would've given me so much more, an opportunity to fill in the void that still haunts me even as of today...loneliness.
This is such a old time romantic view of the foreign legion. The foreign legion now days fight terrorism around the world and fighting for France is a secondary thing. Ofc it's vital that you fight for a "A" nation and that you can respect the orders you are given. But the fact that you are fighting for France is less important than that you are fighting for the league and that you are fighting for a better future for all of us.
Desertion is very high with the Legion. The privation, boredom, and loneliness is hard to take for 5 years.
maybe they should not reject so many? a few badass characters facing 10 yrs for armed robbery would have a hell of an incentive to do 10 in the Legion.
Thats because they not treated well.
At the legion, there is no time to be bored. the legion moves a lot, because it trains a lot, especially the combat companies like the 2e REP and the REI.
Solitude?? A legionnaire is never alone, thanks to the esprit de corps, therefore of brothers in arms instilled from the start.
As for deprivation, there are strict rules at the legion and each candidate is warned before signing his five-year contract. So don't cry after signing
I admire all of them.
I'm intrigued by that Cotes-de-Provence, I'll need to try and get my hands on a bottle!
j'ai gouté! il est pas degueulasse bien frais
the legion is the pride of france , no one would say that these are the damned and as a croatian i can only say thank you for the education of one of our top military ppl General Ante Gotovina , a real hero and our pride in croatia ( and all the other legionnaires who fought with us against the serbs ) . Amitie Legionnaire you showed us how to kick bad guys asses and whack them , Merci , the legion has its place in our history books concerning croatia , that is a great honor and all of them deserve it .
Amitie Legionnaire !!! Jivili France & croatia , as we use to say Bog i Hrvati ( God and the croatians ) Bog i Legionari , JIvili hvala , svaka vam cast ( live long and thank every part of you ( that is the translation) you have a place in our hearts . you are always welcome in Croatia and you will always find a place to be ( of course for free ) , we are very thankful for your support and we will never forget it , we celebrate our heroes , don´t wonder when you travel through croatia and see signs at the highways with the saying " welcome to the land of Ante Gotovina " . Amitie Legionnaire & Bog ( Bog=God we use to greet us with Bog )
The colonel chef is very sympatic man.
Salute from the Netherlands. T.
William James at one point, discussing the terrible cost of war, spoke of the need for a "moral equivalent of war" for the preservation of Western civilization. The very eloquent colonel of the Foreign Legion here suggests that war will provide a moral regeneration of the decadent, peace-loving civilization which the Foreign Legion is hired to protect. Paradoxical.
I wonder if any of these guys were killed in action or deserted. Very nice documentary. I am hoping to join the Legion Etrangere in the near future.
RESPECT to The Legion. . The old soldiers are well looked after unlike the uncivilized UK where they are left living on the streets or begging money off the state to pay the bills
thankyou.
What utter nonsense. Soldiers are paid a pension when they leave the forces. I know of no former soldier who begs in the streets.
@@tonylast9181 not all and i know many homeless veterans. The government does nothing for us
The camaraderie, esprit de corps, and their special code, is what separates this military unit from all others. Backstabbing, individualism, selfishness, destroying a man's career on purpose, are not uncommon traits of the U. S. armed forces. No wonder the U. S. is in irreversible decline......
I remember this wonder what happened to the commander? Hope hes still doing well!
Wonder whatever became of that Yank, he had an amazing view on life and the Army!
I would like to know myself.
Caporal-Chef Green, served for a long time after and became a pioneer apparently. Mentions him in Jaime Salazar's 'Legion of the Lost' (Pg 229).
BDH 91 Good stuff THANKS!!
i feel the world would not be better off without them, perhaps better off without the need for them, as long as the need exists let us hope they remain ready to serve
In Part 1 of this series, he's named as John Barquette or Marquette. Former US Army M-60 gunner from Vietnam. Now 7 years after, I would hope he is a Master Sergeant.
6:20 Disagree with this. The instinct is usually suppressed somewhat however given circumstances it opens out. The human problem is when the natural killer instinct is not corralled by training. The Legion to a great degree removes those who are often uncontrolled from the societies of many countries and ethnic groups. So perhaps that is s very good thing.
These are the Bravest most Honorable Soldiers in the World they do not expect to live after a Battle
18:08
the commander is definitely a cool dude
..i could sit and we could discuss things in general intellectually
If I was 25 again...
guess where I would be..mon ami
yeah, agreed
that sounds nice
5:20 the Indochina situation started VERY differently. Early along, most in the Legion were former battle experienced Waffen SS...they went through the Viet Cong like a hot knife through butter. Later, after some press got wind of this it became 'Non-PC' and most Germans were sent home and back to civilian life. After that, loss was only a matter of time.
who told this bull? Grandma?
the French loss was not due to the quality of the fighting men but of the General Staff which made a tremendous mistake in attempting to force a head-to-head battle with the Viets in an undefendable position. Bad strategy assured the loss no matter how well the FFL fought.
@@dickvarga6908 exactly. For God's sake, Dien Bien Phu was in the middle of enemy territory. The French generals thought that they can resupply Dien Bien Phu garrison by air because the Viet Minh didn't have air assets. Despite the fact that the French garrison was in the enemy's rear. Big mistake on their part. The French would have been better off maintain their hold in Red River Delta in Northern Vietnam. They could have instead have more men available for counter guerilla operations in the Mekong Delta and central Highlands of southern Vietnam. This could have given them political leverage to help anti-communist Vietnamese more popularity. Because at this point in the war the French wanted an independent pro-French Vietnam. Wisely playing in the fact that many Vietnamese, even the ultra nationalist ones, resented Chinese hegemony. Which in the light of Mao's seizure of power in Beijing in 1949 and his robust intervention in Korea, was an all too prescient reality. But the French military strategy was not capable of achieving this political objective.
Honneur et fidélité à la France 🇫🇷 Honneur et fidélité à la légion étrangère. Légio patria nostra more majorum
They do not swear loyalty to france but to the legion itself
The American guy sounds like Bill Murray character "Carl" from Caddyshack. Where is that accent from?
He sounds southern to me.
If you read a copy of biography on Mike Calvert the post war commander of the british S.A.S he clearly states that when the unit was reformed in the 1950`s ` several` volunteers were former legion soldiers who deserted due to lack of combat and wanted to see action Calvert stated they where the back bone of the unit in the early days ( I think they jumped ship in port ) at least one of them was a former German infantry corporal but claimed to be Polish .
Great ...
7:42
good ol boy
I'd like 2 hear the Cowboy French. What's he doing?
Ethical and proud 🏹
The comradeship is second to none.
a whole battalion of legionnaires were wiped out in a couple of hours at Den Bien Phu, Vietnam, 1954.... the Vietmin artillery barrage was devastating and basically around 500 out of 700 were killed almost instantly....a hundred or so crawled away and managed to survive
That's what "death before surrender" means.
Bullshit! there have never been 500 legionnaires instantly wiped out by a vietminh barrage. The legionnaires were decimated after several combats of an extreme violence often with the hand-to-hand combat with the knife, or with the individual shovel, sharpened on rock to cut like a razor, because they had more ammunition. the badly wounded legionnaires who could still walk asked to join their comrades on forward combat posts. They knew it was over soon and even if it meant dying, they wanted to be close to their brothers in arms and die together. there were the last volunteers (to help friends) to parachute onto DBP. in the middle of the fighting. the plane fell very low to have a chance of not being shot down. volunteers could smell gunpowder and death before jumping. some were killed upon reaching the ground. many had never parachuted.
who is that Commander?
RIP Blue. LPN
The legion is truly an odd case
I would like to watch a programme about where are they all now
Nun Ya bizniz, they're Legionarres.
I only had the bottle to join the RAF Regiment..
Alastair West The banter in the British Armed Forces would be halve if it was not for the Rockapes !
By the way I loved my time in the RAF REGT, but I now sick of Bananas ( A banter joke)
I'm in this
Joseph Godbout what part of this video your in?
I am not but should have been hahaha 177/736 Buster Duffell was in 1ere cmpy at Bel Aire.
+Nicky Firbank Bob DeMarco 179-779 2eme Compagnie la Jasse
I would liked to hear the Southern guy speak French. he didn't tell his reason at least some. Was he in the U.S. Army or Marines.ect
La France est ingrate, les français sont de tristes italiens, et c'est regrettable,mais une fois qu'on y est on y est heureux, comme le disent les allemands, qui ont pourtant un bien beau pays, on y est comme Dieu en France
Legio patria nostra more majurom
yea a was by the legion.
A regular guy can't be a 4 star General
Can I Be In The Legion Im From New Zealand
Paul Harlen sure..
I worked with a Maori guy who served nine years with the legion as a paratrooper. He was a top man. One time we were sitting in this cafe when a couple of meth-heads came in and started causing trouble; scaring the staff. He looked up from his bacon and eggs and asked them politely but very firmly to leave. They thought about arguing the toss for a nano second then left in a cloud of shame. They were looking into the eyes of a man who could back up the weight of his words with action if need be. It was the only time I ever heard him raise his voice. He never swore.
Yeah bro, I did 6 years 98-04
189836 Cpl B MOREY
2REP, 1CIE, S4
Im in my head 80 % in my mind of heading to France . The 20 % is into my son here in England . Go ffl or go doctors and get medicated up by the Doctors for the rest of my life . Fuk man dontvno wat to do . Been training hard to
Did you go or are you still here ? It’s funny, I faced the same situation many years ago, I stayed and when my son was 10 she took him away from me anyway .. I wish I’d gone to the legion !!!
I honestly wonder what happened to these guys
I'm one of them. Class of 1990. Living in California now.
AGM-65 Maverick, Know them well: AMMO 1975-2010 IYAAYAS
Is there a FFL GI Bill can you go to college??? VA Benefits.
To be the last man standing is the reason I didn't join the legion, that and the Prussian half of me totally rejects serving France, so I went U.S. Army Special Ops.
ood for you.
means to never surrender and fight to the last man and last breathe like they did in cameron
Prussian? You meant german, right?
in the legion u never surrender
wise choice...anybody with such a stupid outlook would not last one month...Prussia has been extinct for 80 years anyways...what are you talking about??!
Do we need war??
There should be no war!!!!!!!😀😀😀😃😃😃!!!!!!
A faster March is less arrogant?
Legion pace is 88 steps per minute. Conventional pace is 120 per minute. This is why the Legion is last on la Jour Bastille.
The American's always sound a bit thick, always talk like they are in a war film , the other guys just get on with it
The walk seem a cross between a zombie and a clown.
if you had some big balls between your legs ,you 'll walking like that...
you are welcome to tell them
Lol!
The Cowboy has a gold around his hat what does that mean???
He's a "caporal-chef" (chief corporal)
FAIS LE BIEN A LA FRANCE TU VA VOIR COMMENT ELLE VA TE
REMERCIER ! Fais le bien a bertrand il te le rendra en chiant