European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 14, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A sense of elitism soldiers of the French foreign legion a my ate firing their 120mm mortar in the saudi arabian desert Fremd sudent Francois Mitterrand above reviews legionnaires assemblm4 for has visit to the red sea port City of Yanbul where French is had been debarking. Legendary legion by Rone tempest los Angeles times the illuminated yellow Cross shines brightly these Days inside the crypt of the wooden hand at Autagne France legionnaires in Crisp Khaki uniforms and boxy White Kepi hats March the length of the Quot sacred Way Quot Parade ground at the Center of the Headquarters compound with a renewed sense of purpose. Things Are so upbeat in fact that a colonel in the commandant s office was overheard the other Day singing an almost forgotten tune recorded years ago by the throaty chanteuse Edith Piaf he was Young he was handsome he smelled Good like hot Sand my Legionnaire. After several decades of decline and neglect punctuated Only by periodic police actions in obscure locales such As Chad and Rwanda the glory Days Are Back for the French foreign legion. The legion has three of its desert tested regiments on the front lines in saudi Arabia. Its ranks have been restocked with a new wave of Able bodied recruits from the crumbling communist regimes of Eastern Europe. And like similar military forces designed for Quick deployment the foreign legion a key part of the French Force action rapid or rapid deployment Force is enjoying new found strategic status in the Post cold War Era. The combination of events has revived the fortunes of one of the worlds elite fighting units and certainly one of the most unusual. The legions most treasured Possession for example is an age darkened wooden hand kept in a Black Marble vault at Autagne in a separate Wing of the foreign legion museum. The prosthetic hand once belonged to legion hero capt Jean Danjou who was killed in Battle in Mexico in 1863. He had lost his real hand in Algeria when his Musket exploded. Given a Chance to retire he refused and went on to Lead legion troops in the crimean War and Mexico where he died facing Down 2,000 foes with Only a handful of legionnaires. Once a year in the Spring Danjou s wooden hand is removed from its Glass enclosed Case and carried in Parade by the Soldier deemed the Best example of the legions standards of courage and discipline other legion traditions differentiate it from the rest of the French army and build up its sense of elitism. For example the legion is the Only unit to Wear the pure White Kepi an inheritance from its service in the North african desert where such headgear helped to deflect the brutal. Sun and its March a slow almost funereal Pace also sets it apart on Parade 88 Steps a minute compared to 120 for the regular army. The foreign legion was created in 1831 by French King Louis Philippe to help in the Conquest of Algeria most of the original legion troops were refugees from revolutions that had taken place in several european countries in 1830. A the use of foreign troops to fight French Battles was part of an older tradition. The Bourbon Kings employed the famous Swiss guard Napoleon had his polish lancers and even the Early French revolutionaries recruited an army of foreign soldiers the Quot legion France strange re. Originally created to fight Only on foreign soil or in French possessions overseas today a legion is the a nov one of he several historical foreign legions to survive an integral part of the French army it is led by French officers. But the majority of its b.500 troops Are foreigners recruited from 106 countries. According to it. Col. Pierre Romager chief of recruiting at Autagne 67 percent of today a legionnaires ?0 americans m the 0gion accepted the legion accepts Only a fraction of those who apply. In the past year there were 7,500 applicants for Only 1,200 openings. The key to the legion system celebrated in dozens of books and movies like the classic Beau Geste starring Gary Cooper is the legion code of anonymity. Once accepted every recruit is assigned a new identity. Foreign recruits Are Given French names and assigned false nationalities from French speaking countries. French enlistees Are Given new names and foreign identities. Later in his career the Legionnaire has the option of resuming his real name or sticking with his legion identity. But whatever he decides his secret past is secure with the legion. Quot the legion provides you a Sanctuary if you Are looking for one Quot announces the giant recruiting posters that peer Down at passengers in the train stations of Paris. Obviously the idea of Sanctuary is attractive to a lot of men. Men who have been jilted by their lovers or have unhappy marriages for example find Refuge in the legion Quot when you Are accepted in the legion Quot says the recruiting officer who stars in a 20-minute film available m to languages that is shown to potential recruits Quot you Are considered to be single whether you Are married or a Tornch n thle on the recruit 9ives up his right to Thi itn�m0, a tree years of he decides to set married the legion will interview his Fiancee and decide if she is the right woman. The legions latin motto is Legio Patria Nostra a the Legio i r Homeland. A legionnaires first loyalty is to he if his second is to France. N does have some restrictions on those it it accept hard Core criminals perverts or Are wanted by International police Quot said de la Judie a Deputy to the commandant Ond Lecorre Quot but once a candidate is acted re done task any More questions. We Don t ans  Thi a along with the Promise of almost certain Freni Enship at the end of a five year tour has prove e legion with an almost endless Stream of Refuge git Ives misfits and adventurers each with his of Ison for wanting to change his name and Start Over. J no ing ago the French foreign legion was write Gay Many Paris politicians As a romantic Mysti of France s colonial past. In the context of the c a the desert fighting skills of the legion Appe Jse Fui Only in seemingly minor police actions in Pla let Chad Zaire and Djibouti. The me the current persian Gulf conflict. It was just what 3roes of Beau Geste needed to be relevant again ing the 13,000 French troops on the frontline in Sai Abia Are three regiments of the legendary Quot men out  sales of the multinational forces in the Gulf Are now Juilly aware the legion is one of the few Western is with extensive recent desert combat Page 14 a the stars and stripes a next of the Gulf crisis the legion s presence in Chi Here its units have been fighting on and off since has emerged As a coveted asset rather than a fool from an obscure War. Quot a our personnel have already been in desert Condi i Quot observed col. De la Judie who was the office heard singing Piaf. Quot a i a experience firing missiles in extremely hot Condi i. Our helicopters Are equipped with filters to keep he   a Thi Ling of competence in desert settings has Prodi a certain Braggadocio among legionnaires that May Fern Erica and other soldiers assigned to the Gulf. Ifon Aires for example brag that they can get by a no Gallons of water a Day in saudi Arabia Rath ii the five Gallons that the americans Are orders drink. A a in Sand Quot one Legionnaire bragged to French report recently in saudi Arabia Quot we Are like fish in water adventure escape mustered into a training classroom at legion Headquarters at Autagne France on a recent morning and looking More like refugees than fighting men six typical French foreign legion recruits a a czech a pole a former East German a scotsman a swede and an american a selected by it. Col. Pierre Romager chief of recruiting told a reporter their reasons for joining the legendary French fighting unit. In keeping with the legion s tradition of anonymity they did not give their names. For the czech the pole and the German the motivations were economic the legion offered them a Chance to escape their depressed homelands. Quot there Are no jobs left where i grew up in the East Quot said the German a Stocky Blue eyed 18-year-old with a bad complexion and a Wispy Mustache. Quot when i went to West Germany they said i would have to work As an apprentice for two years before i could get a decent Job. I had no friends i Felt like i was  the Scot said that he had signed up because he was unemployed and afraid of getting into trouble with the Law in the Tough hard drinking pub scene Back Home. The swede said that he was bored to death in Sweden. And the american a tall apparently High Strung 20-year-old Southern californian said that he was fed up with american Quot greed and  he said that he had grown up in an affluent suburb near Pasadena where his father owns a company that makes air plane parts. After spending his High school years in a los Angeles prep school and a military school in another state he said that he was accepted at the University of California los Angeles but decided to join the legion instead. Quot we had a lot of family problems at Home Quot he said. Quot i had the feeling that my parents did t Iove me. They cared More about their friends and their cars and houses than they did about me. I just wanted to get about As far away As i could. I remembered Reading this Story about a Legionnaire dying. The legion has a kind of mystique about  Rone tempest highs and lows in its Century and half of history the legion has had Many ups and Downs the Low Point probably came in 1835, when the original legion was loaned to Spain Only four years after it had been created and had participated in the Conquest of Algeria. Legion histories Are full of horror stories about the Way Spanish officers abused the starving Barefoot legionnaires under their command. Probably the second lowest moment came at the end of the algerian War of Independence in 1961, when Many Legionnaire officers and men joined in the attempted coup d eat against president Charles de Gaulle and the French government in Algeria the legion had been at the spearhead of the brutal but unsuccessful Campaign to suppress the Independence movement. Those who took part in the coup attempt hated de Gaulle for deciding to Cut Frances losses and Grant Independence. Most of the French army remained Loyal and put Down the Quot revolt of the generals Quot in Only four Days and five nights. One of the mutinous regiments was the 1 St Parachute regiment of the foreign legion based in Zeralda Algeria. Before the regiment surrendered to its fellow French forces its soldiers destroyed their Barracks. As they marched to the stockade they Sang the Edith Piaf song Jene Regrette Rien a Quot i regret nothing Quot a at the top of their lungs. The French withdrawal from Algeria in 1962 meant that the legion lost its Headquarters at Sidi Bel Abbes and was forced to move to its present Headquarters in Southern France. It ceased to be a foreign legion based on foreign soil. Today the legion has six posts in France and four overseas Djibouti on the East african coast muru Rua a Pacific Island near Tahiti Mayotte an Island in the Indian Ocean and French Guiana on the Northern coast of South America. But the algerian experience left the legion with a stigma of insubordination and a reputation for right Wing political stances that stuck with it for years. The one thing that saved it was the deep affection Felt by French officers who had commanded in its ranks. A French army officers career is not Complete without a tour in the legion and there Are Many examples of officers who gave up chances for advancement to stay with the legion. Rone tempest Legionnaire unit arrives in Corsica from Algeria in 1962 after Algeria gained Independence. The stars and stripes a a a Page 1c