Posted on 01/05/2015 5:23:17 PM PST by Rabin
FORT DRUM, N.Y. (Tribune News Service) — An American soldier who deserted his unit on post and joined the French Foreign Legion was sentenced to four years in prison...
FFL, ""He is a man I will never forget and by whom I will always stand," Gen. Kolodziej said in his testimony, according to the New York Times. "He is more than a born soldier, he is a born gentleman. I would like to have 10 men like that in my team and I would be the happiest of generals."
(Excerpt) Read more at stripes.com ...
This guy was an officer - what he did was much worse. Execute him pour encourager les autres, then let the French give him a full military funeral.
They could punish him with a general discharge and a fine or something else. Remember Erin Watada? He outright refused to deploy to a combat zone and was quietly let out of the Army after his trial. No harm, no foul. This guy gets four years. That’s military “justice” for you.
Not many would be encouraged enough to join the Legion, where soldiers are shot for falling asleep during fire guard duty. Five long years of that.
Kind of the same thing for the guy who joined the FFL...I can't find a lot of fault with his sentence, but I sure want to yell about the fact that Bergdahl draws breath still.
I am with you on the inconsistency, and I would like to hear someone with responsibility stand and deliver on the how and why of it.
But I think the sentence from Wikipedia on it says it all: "...The Army appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in November, 2008. But after the Obama administration took office, the Justice Department asked the court to drop the case, which was dismissed on May 6, 2009..."
I would like to blame the Army prosecuters, but the Left probably threw loads of time and money into getting him off the hook. You would think it would have been an open and shut case, but no. Everything the Left touches turns to feces. Everything. And this current administration is far, FAR, worse.
That is fascinating
FROM THE ARTICLE:
A)
“I needed to be wet and cold and hungry,” he told the New York Times. “I needed the grueling life I could only find in a place like the Legion.”
B)
Prosecutors claimed Franks left to avoid deploying to Afghanistan, and his former battalion commander, Col. Michael Loos, testified that losing Franks was a burden as it prepared for its mission.
A or B could be true, but both ? I suppose he could be on the way to a cushy assignment in Afghanistan - is that possible ?
It is in a weird way...I can’t figure out if it is for real or not...
I thought the appeal of serving in La Legion Etrangere was to gain French citizenship and then relax on the Riviera with a bottle of wine.
I ran into a Brit in a bar in N’Djamena, Chad, who was an NCO in the Legion. He had been in the Paras in the British Army and found that a bit tame. He’d served out his enlistment in the Paras, got on a train to Marseillaise and joined the Legion. He said the hardest part for him was learning French.
I don’t understand why he didn’t remain in France.
There was a matching essay by an American who served with some French troops. He was equally impressed with their quality as soldiers.
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