Original subtitles

for almost 200 years one group of

fighting men has held an unrivaled grip

on the world's

imagination shadowy pasts have made them

outcasts glorious victories have made

them Heroes and bitter defeats often in

Hopeless battles to the death have

transformed them into Legends

they are the men of the French Foreign

Legion today the Mystique that surrounds

these unusual soldiers Still fascinates

Still draws young men to enlist in their

ranks it's a place where you go to learn

how to Soldier but it's also a place for

adventurers and dreamers and and and

Romantics and things like that and that

was really kind of the aspect that Drew

me to it but once they enlist many of

these dreamers discover that being a

legionnaire is a lot tougher than they

ever imagined they often joined with

very romantic ideas and then when they

get there the reality of service in the

legion was was really very

harsh one of the maxims in the legion is

you never become Legionnaire until you

fill your boots with your own blood you

have guys break down and cry like during

a a March or a run that they have to be

dragged and it it does it can get

ugly but the recruits who are up to the

challenge earn a unique claim to fame

the Foreign Legion becomes a sort of

gold standard of toughness you know I

survive 5 years in the Foreign Legion

you know sort of March or die they

wanted to prove their toughness and

where better to do that than in the

French Farm Legion

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every year young men from around the

world show up in France eager to enlist

in the French Foreign

Legion for some it's a moment they have

been dreaming of even longer than they

can remember I can't think of the day

when it just kind of dawned on me what

the Foreign Legion was what I do

remember is as a young kid the black and

white movies the little funny white hats

and uh you know the the Gary Cooper type

people running around and seemingly

having good time

time that was really kind of my first

introduction to the Foreign

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Legion I learned that the French Foreign

Legion still existed while I was still

in high school

actually uh happened to read an article

in a magazine and from that moment on I

was hooked the legion has been hooking

young foreigners like these since its

founding in 1831

one back then a new French King Louis

Philipe was eager for France to flex its

muscles as a colonial

power but the French people had their

doubts about these foreign

Adventures they knew that being drafted

to fight France's enemies in Europe was

bad enough being sent overseas to die

for the Ambitions of a conquest hungry

King was pushing unwilling conscripts

too

far and it wasn't just enemy bullets

that had them worried in places like

North Africa French troops often

discovered that dissenter malaria and

heat stroke were their deadliest

foes the mortality rate was huge I mean

all sorts of nasty things you could die

of and probably would so survival rates

were really very low uh so there was a a

strong opposition in France to ordering

conscripts to go to the colonies because

so many of them died so who were you

going to use well you had to have

specialized units for this in other

words units of volunteers but where

could Louis Philipe find these

volunteers men who were willing able and

Expendable he found them wandering the

streets and squares of France but they

weren't

French France has always seen itself as

the home of Liberty so in a continent

where there has been political turmoil

uh uh failed

revolutions failed mutinies many people

often after they failed they flee to

France because France has had an open

armed policy the French problem is what

do we do with these

people so what better solution for

everybody concerned and to take these

foreigners who were potentially

politically disruptive gather them

together in this special unit of

foreigners and to get them out of the

country as soon as

possible and the idea is foreigners

could only serve in this unit not in

regular conscript units and they could

only serve outside of

France Louis Philipe would be deposed in

1848 but by then his Legion of

foreigners had already proved itself as

a tool for

colonialism historically whether you

agreed with colonialism or not the

legion was always a very important

component in Imperial conquests

they were the ones who spearheaded

France's Imperial Mission and that was

their mission in

life the legionnaires would win some of

their greatest victories and gain their

most lasting Fame in the conquest of the

North African region that became known

as

Algeria it required many years to

conquer

Algeria the Algerian I an periodically

were revolting in 1871 there was a large

Revolt there was other revolts during

the first world war so the legion

provided the Garrison to make sure that

the Muslim population uh did not rise up

against the French

colonizers to the Foreign Legion Algeria

became more than just a conquered land

it became a spiritual home and the

source of the legion's unique

identity Algeria maintained that sort of

harshness which kept the legion Spirit

and the legion Unity

alive now it was loaned to other

Expeditions especially in subsaharan

Africa for instance eventually it's

stationed also in Indochina and that is

the most popular

Garrison but it would always come back

to Algeria

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it was in Algeria that the legion's

Romantic Legends began to take

shape Legends of mysterious men fighting

and surviving under extreme

conditions and dying for a cause that

wasn't their

own and from the time the first stories

about the legion began to appear in

print in the

1860s these Legends have always sold

better than the truth the first book on

the legion is under two flags and that

is the first time that you there is this

idea of there is this romantic group of

men out there uh you two can join it

boes it's the same sort of

Romanticism here are these men who are

sort of Fallen men who are on the run

from the law or have The Misfortune of a

bad love affair so go to the desert join

the legion purify yourself

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in the early 20th century a powerful new

form of mythmaking would spread the

legions Legends to an even wider

public Hollywood was essential it was

complicit really in creating the myth

everything in these films that would

turned out by Hollywood reinforced the

myth the Legion trying to

create for Hollywood the foreign Legions

shadowy characters and exotic locations

made it a perfect setting for adventure

if not for romance goodbye Melle goodbye

the film Morocco with Gary Cooper and

Marina Dietrich at the end Gary Cooper

marches out over a sand dune in other

words the message the very strong

message is that you know I would rather

March off with the legion and stay with

Marina dietr so he's turning his back on

sort of normal

life the myths created by novelists

filmmakers and the legionnaires

themselves still draw young men to the

legion's

ranks some are trying to escape poverty

or fleeing political unrest and

oppression at home or simply chasing a

dream and a few are running away from

their own pasts they've always accepted

people with questionable

histories um they take people with

criminal records

murders really hardcore bad

people what happens when you join the

legion is that technically you're

anonymous they call it the anonyma in

other words you are developing a whole

new

identity uh we don't care where you're

from you know you just turn up you don't

need

papers 5 years of service earn these men

the opportunity to escape their pasts by

keeping their new identities and

applying for French

citizenship but the French army officers

in charge don't make it easy

whatever it was that you had in your

former life you can change all that in

the French form Legion they'll do that

for

you the catch there is the fact that it

doesn't come for free you will be giving

up basically Your Blood Sweat and Tears

and your soul so you can redeem yourself

but be prepared to give up a lot for new

recruits the sacrifices begin as soon as

they walk through the legion's

doors boot camp was most extreme uh

experience my

life they pound you into killing

machines it's a very minimalist

existence there's no Creature Comforts

at

all we had what's called The Raid March

and that's basically endurance

qualifying March and in our case it was

for seven days 7 Days From Dusk Till

Dawn we were on our feet marching

you almost went into an insane Frame of

Mind by the time you're finished you

were that tired it was that

tough you have people start yelling at

each other and cuz you have to suddenly

pick up somebody else's slack uh you

might have to carry somebody else's Rock

sock cuz they they just can't go anymore

dropping out just isn't an option you

must make the March and a lot of this

stems back from the days in Algeria

where really if you couldn't make the

March you were going to be left behind

to die so the legion being as

traditional as it is it still adheres to

that notion that you will complete the

march at all

costs and things only get tougher for

the recruits who can't keep up thanks to

another of the legion's oldest

Traditions corporal

punishment violence is a tool and the

Foreign Legion still uses it

unlike all other Western armies they

still retain this uh instruction method

of of using violence to to make the

point come

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across you got to remember that a lot of

people don't understand French

especially when they come

in the sergeant is not going to stand

there and sort of try to reason with you

and try to make you understand you know

if you're sitting there saying no I

don't understand the order this is the

order you know I'm going to give it once

the second time I'm going to give it

like this black eyes bloody noses

um bruises maybe a few broken bones it

really kind of depends upon how severe

maybe the infraction is but yeah you

will get beaten up beaten up by

non-commissioned officers who know their

victims have no one to turn to for even

though the legion is a part of the

French army the rules that protect

French troops don't apply to the foreign

volunteers the legionnaires are not

going to write their congressmen they're

represented by nobody in France

so they really have no way to appeal so

the legion has a free hand politically

to do their will with these people it

doesn't take long for some of the

battered recruits to start wondering

whether they really want to stick it out

in the Legion for five long years by the

time the day came when they decided that

we were in or we were out a large part

of me said I hope they don't Pi pick me

I hope they show me the

door but the legion is quick to use its

history and its romantic Traditions to

remind those who make the cut why they

joined in the first place just one month

into basic training they are granted the

right to wear a beloved symbol of the

Legion the key Blanc or White Cap one of

the most I suppose emotional or stirring

moments that that you do have as a

legionaire is when you're first issued

the the right to wear a KP blong we're

going to finally wear this little funny

white hat that we'd seen and heard so

much about we had the key in our hand

and after we pledged an oath not to

serve France but to serve the Foreign

Legion the commanding Lieutenant finally

gave gave the order to Dawn our kees and

in one swinging motion everybody dawned

their key at the same time and you felt

like a million bucks

is quite emotional like to me the the C

is one of the major symbols of the

Legion and to finally be standing there

wearing one that was actually quite a

special

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moment doesn't mean that the hell stops

that's what's interesting you still got

three months left of basic

training and three more months of

indoctrination into the legion's

hallowed

Traditions Traditions often expressed in

song singing is a strong part of Legion

tradition one of the the first really

strong Impressions I had of it was just

after we got to basic training and we

were lining up to have dinner in the

evening and just to hear that for the

first time coming out of the the

darkness it was night and there was fog

and and it it just sounded fantastic

beautiful and you just get goosebumped

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in the legion even something as basic as

marching becomes a chance to invoke the

glories of the past the pace that they

use in parade is substantially slower

than a normal Army so it is quite slow

to get that Rhythm down it's very left

right instead of left right left

marching slowly that is supposed to

indicate the somberness of death and of

course there's been many fatalities

through the history of the Legion so

they take it quite

seriously recruits soon learn that

honoring the memory of those who gave

life and limb for the legion is at the

center of many of the Traditions they

are expected to uphold and the greatest

Glory goes to those who who made the

ultimate sacrifice only they are deemed

worthy of having their names inscribed

in the legion's Hall of

Honor whether the battle is won or not

doesn't really matter the point is that

they live up to their obligations to die

for the

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Legion in many respects the only real

legionaire is a dead legionaire because

he's actually died for the

men every year on April 30th the legion

drives this point home with a massive

celebration of one of its greatest

defeats a defeat that came in

1863 during a quixotic campaign to

impose a European Emperor on

Mexico in a tiny village called

Cameron there is a little more than 6

the legionaires against an army of 2,000

Mexicans and they basically fought to

the last man

standing Cameron day just helps

you remember where you are I suppose as

well the fact that perhaps someday you

could be asked to do the same

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thing the highlight of every Cameron day

is the display of one of the legion's

most sacred relics the hand of Captain

Jean

donu Captain donu was the leader at

Cameron he had lost a hand um in a

hunting accident actually not in combat

and he had a wooden replacement and this

was discovered after the battle and it

becomes the relic of the

Legion and to be given the honor of

carrying the hand of donju on the 30th

of April is one that people would die

for quite literally it's one of those

artifacts of the world that you know you

don't have access to otherwise and to

see it sitting there it's a special

moment as

well special moments like these instill

the old ways in new

recruits but sometimes this obsession

with their own history can lead the

legion

astray in 1961 clinging to the Past

almost cost the legion its

future by then nationalist uprisings had

already driven the French out of their

colonies in Indochina and other parts of

the world as this revolutionary tide

swept across North Africa too French

president Charles deal decided it was

time for France to get out of Algeria

for

good but some members of the Legion

refused to go

many legionnaires feared that if Algeria

was abandoned by the French then then

the legion would be

abolished on the eve of the withdrawal a

group of legionnaires mutinied and

declared their determination to keep

Algeria French deal was outraged by this

reminder that a Legionnaire's first

loyalty is to the legion and not to

France and the French people feared that

this ruthless group of of foreigners Was

preparing to Stage a coup and to set up

a new government that would let them

stay in Algeria there was a great fear

the legion would actually uh invade

France so many people drove their cars

onto the airfields to prevent that there

were tanks surrounding the National

Assembly to actually protect the

legitimate civilian organs of government

against uh a military

coup president deal went on National

Television to condemn the rebellious

legionnaires what deal does of course is

he broadcast the whole French army and

he says I am your commander-in-chief if

you are ordered to to Mutiny if you are

ordered to fight against the French

government then you refuse to obey those

orders Deal's rapid response put an end

to the

Mutiny some thought he was ready to put

an end to the legion too but he didn't

instead deal forced the legionaires to

obey his orders forced them to leave

their beloved Algeria and to transfer

their headquarters to France for the

very first

time cast a drift from its spiritual

Homeland the legion was left to find a

new role for itself in a modern

postcolonial

world you know historically their

mission has been abroad not in France so

it's it's going to it's going to require

a real change um in the sort of Legion

way of looking at its

Mission they've gotten into peacekeeping

in the last several years and they seem

to be very good and effective at that

almost more so perhaps than what they

were doing

before they've seen considerable action

in s

AO um they've seen considerable action

in the Congo they've seen considerable

action in Cambodia as well but desert

battle remains a legion

specialty still in between peacekeeping

missions and police actions there's

really not a lot for a soldier in the

modern Legion to

do there's a lot of doing nothing

there's a lot of slow slow days where

you really don't do

anything I used to think of it as being

a monk almost or in prison

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even one of the ways they do keep you

busy is uh the mop in the broom and

three times a day you're cleaning your

barracks whether it needs to be cleaned

or

not complaining or failing to measure up

isn't an

option I remember there was a legionaire

what ended up happening to him I mean

they gave him black

eyes one incident I remember we were all

lined up in the

hallway they made him bend over and they

grabbed his arms they they use him as a

battering real against a

door I mean we're all standing there

watching that

horrified but just powerless to you step

in and stop it me you don't dare do

anything or or you risk repercussion

yourself of course it's one of the

things that sort of slowly winds you

down the boredom and brutality take

their toll men who came to the legion

seeking Adventure often grow

Restless desertion has become part of

the lore of the Legion it's associated

with the legion mythology just like the

Ki blond just like Cameron

day in fact when you look at the at in

the context of the Legion ethos it's

it's really a strength rather than a

weakness it's part of the it's part of

their

efficiency an efficiency that comes with

the voluntary exit of reluctant or

unpromising

legionnaires the thought of deserting it

was kind of a monkey on my back

and um one day it just sort of spilled

over and I said hell's I'm just going to

do it I'm going to leave I've had enough

Jamie Salazar decided to slip away on

his next leave but after months of

indoctrination just walking away from

the legion wasn't as easy as he expected

I was actually one of the people who

deserted once and then came back I kind

of realized the mistake of my ways so I

returned turned myself in expecting very

very well that uh I was going to serve a

pretty lengthy jail sentence Salazar

hoped to serve that sentence at the

legion's headquarters then he discovered

he would be serving it with his old

regiment

instead I just didn't want to go back I

didn't want to go back to the same

people who uh had made my life a

complete hell so what I actually did is

I actually broke out of the prison Wagon

made a run for it literally through the

mountains and uh uh made my Great

Escape Salazar had fulfilled just one

year of his 5-year commitment to the

legion but some legionnaires are

determined to honor the pledge they made

when they enlisted I went there to do it

I went there to complete 5 years and for

myself I would have I would have

regretted it if I'd have left and not

seen it through to the end so that was

kind of the driving force that kept me

there Evan MC man would serve two tours

of Duty in jibou during his years in the

Foreign Legion two more in Chad and time

as a peacekeeper in Kosovo but by the

time his 5-year contract ended he was

eager to move on I think 5 years is

quite enough I have no regrets about

joining I'm very glad I did wouldn't

really traded for anything but I could

never go

back those days are over for me Evan

mcgorman lived out his fantasy of

joining the French Foreign Legion and

and survive to tell the

tale but can a force so obsessed with

its own Heritage survive the challenges

of modern

war in the end it may depend on whether

the legion learns to use its legendary

past as building blocks for the future

or lets itself become a prisoner of its

own

myths the legion has many myths is the

legion a prisoner of those myths yes but

it's a golden prison

because these myths are so embedded in

its personality and so embedded in its

performance it couldn't really survive

without its myths

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the

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