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WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, Germany (Reuters) - Four years after the end of World War II, while much of Germany still lay in ruins, 17-year-old Egon Pohl left his home to join the Foreign Legion and France's war in Vietnam. "It was adventure and a new home," said Pohl, who lied about his age to join the elite French force along with thousands of others trying to escape the chaos and rubble of post-war Germany. An estimated 35,000 Germans served during the eight-year conflict that ended 50 years ago this week when a disastrous defeat at the battle of Dien...

Irakli Okruashvili, a former defense minister of Georgia, last week joined a Ukrainian foreign-fighter regiment created to face down the Russian invasion in a hurry. Three days later, he and a group of countrymen, former special-forces soldiers, made contact with Russian troops north of Kyiv. With a U.S.-supplied .50-caliber Barrett M99 single-shot anti-armor precision rifle, the Georgian unit disabled two Russian armed vehicles, Mr. Okruashvili said, before falling under a sustained reply from 152-millimeter howitzer cannons. After several hours, Ukrainian planes bombed the Russian artillery positions, silencing them.

“Tu n’abandonnes jamais les tiens, ni au combat, ni dans la vie.” These words grace the back label of Esprit de Corps Grand Cuvée, a Vermentino from Côtes de Provence Sainte–Victoire. It means, “You never abandon your own, not in combat, nor in life.” The phrase references Article VII of the French Foreign Legion’s Code of Honor, which is a hint at the bottle’s unlikely provenance: a retirement home for former legionnaires. Nestled in postcard-perfect vineyards in Provence, the Domaine du Capitaine Danjou winery is the antithesis of abandonment. It provides lodging, purpose, and, most importantly, brotherhood. Leave it to...

Documentary on the French Foreign Legion including modern recruitment and training. (French w/ English subtitles appx 1:40 mins) The Legion has long had a reputation for taking those that no other military would, and turning them around with their tough as nails discipline. And to some degree that remains true. But they are quite selective. Only around 1 in 8 applicants get through the initial screening. Those who do, get a new name and background and can gain French citizenship after three years of honorable service. In the old days they took people on something close to a no questions...

A gay rights activist, who moved to France to escape persecution, claims he was raped by an American man in Marseille who said 'you French people hate Trump'. The 35-year-old says he was drugged at a bar on Friday by two men who were American and English, who then took him to a hotel room. The LGBT activist claims the American said: 'You French people…you hate Trump. And you listen to black and Arabic music.' He told a news website his alleged attackers beat him and tied his wrists and ankles with ripped up bedsheets.

Barack Obama's Defense Department on Thursday announced its plan to recruit illegal aliens, who they admit are undocumented, to join the United States Armed Forces, according to a statement released by the Pentagon. Critics are unhappy with this latest announcement, with some claiming the American armed services will become more like the French Foreign Legion, which historically allow fugitives from justice and others to join up with no required documentation. ... What are they trying to so in this administration? Turn our excellent military into a knock-off of the French Foreign Legion? Obama, who has never been anything more than...

The following video shows a French Foreign Legion (2e régiment étranger de parachutistes – 2eREP) paradrop into Timbuktu, Mali, from a C-160 Transal airlifter of the French Air Force. It was taken on Jan. 28, from the Infra-Red camera of a Harfang drone, supporting Operation Serval from Niger. The Harfang drones are the only French UAVs reportedly operating in West Africa. These ISR (Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance) platforms are about to be supported by a RAF Sentinel R1 deployed in Senegal.

So you’ve decided to run away and join the French Foreign Legion? Here’s how. It's Earth's version of taking the Black and heading for the Wall, the way Jon Snow does in Game of Thrones. Joining the French Foreign Legion granted men a safe haven for many for decades. But what does it actually take to join the French Foreign Legion? • Joining the Legion The Foreign Legion, unfortunately, is portrayed in pop culture as packed mercenaries and vagrants — even Jean-Claude Van Damme takes up the cause in one film. A safe haven for men looking for a new...

German troops storm Greece. Putin's tanks crush Latvia. France humbles the British Army. Unlikely, yes, but as Angela Merkel says euro meltdown could endanger peace, a historian's imagination runs riot... The date is October 29, 2018, and Britain faces its darkest hour. On the battlefields of Europe, our Armed Forces have been humiliated. In makeshift prison camps on the continent, thousands of our young men and women sit forlornly, testament to the collapse of our ambitions. From the killing grounds of Belgium to the scarred streets of Athens, a continent continues to bleed. And, in the east, the Russian bear...

France could lose its Foreign Legion. This was stated by the commander of its 13th demi-brigade, Colonel Cyril Yushchenko, while he was giving instructions for the withdrawal of his unit from Africa (Djibouti). Today it is the only French unit (not counting the peacekeepers in Yugoslavia and Afghanistan) stationed outside of France in Djibouti. In an emotional address to his personnel, he expressed fears that his unit will be disbanded. Paris continues to reduce its armed forces, and even the famed Foreign Legion could not escape this fate, although it is believed that the Legionnaires are the most combat-ready French...

Even as President Dmitry Medvedev announced a three-fold increase in the basic pay of the servicemen, the Defence Ministry has opened the doors for foreigners to join the Russian Armed Forces. Speaking before the army commanders in the Nizhnynovogorod region, Medvedev promised that in spite of budget deficit a lieutenant rank officer will get the basic pay of 50 thousand roubles. According to the amended law posted on the Defence Ministry website, a citizen of any foreign country, aged 18-30, can now sign an initial 5-year contract to join the Russian army. A good command over Russian language and absence...

As soon as the French Foreign Legion moved in this summer, some of the men climbed on the roof of the base headquarters and painted the force's Latin motto in big white letters. "Legio Patria Nostra." The legion is our homeland. Home has been in many far-flung places for legionnaires during their storied 178-year history - North Africa, the Far East, Mexico, and now the foothills of the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan as part of NATO's U.S.-led International Security Force. The legion's Afghan contingent consists of 750 men of more than 80 nationalities. Some have joined up for high-adrenaline...

This video is subtitled with English Subtitles . viedo at post 2

Now that Durham prosecutor Mike Nifong has made his name "mud" (actually, a French term for excrement comes to mind) not only in Durham North Carolina but throughout the entire country, there is only one career option that may remain open to him. This assumes, however, that he can pass himself off as younger than forty and lose some of his excess weight. http://www.ambafrance-us.org/atoz/legion/index.asp "The Legionnaire's Thoughts" (http://www.ambafrance-us.org/atoz/legion/thought.asp) shows why this could indeed be a perfect career move for a prosecutor who has been credibly alleged to have withheld exculpatory DNA evidence while nifonging three innocent men for personal political...

The French Foreign Legion How to Get in There are 16 Legion recruiting centers in France, the most popular being Fort de Nogent in Paris. Just ask at the police station for the Legion Etrangere. The more focused head straight for Aubagne, just outside of the dirty Mediterranean port of Marseille. You will be competing with over 8000 other eager Legionnaire wannabe's for the 1500 slots available. East Europeans make up about 50 percent of the eager candidates these days. Candidates are tested for their intelligence and physical fitness, and special skills are a definite plus. If you just murdered...

The military could ease its manpower shortage by letting foreigners join up. It is hard to pick up a newspaper these days without reading about Army and Marine Corps recruiting and retention woes. Nonstop deployments and the danger faced by troops in Iraq are making it hard for both services to fill their ranks. The same goes for the National Guard and Reserves. (The Navy and Air Force, which are much less in harm's way, have no such difficulty.) Just to stay at their present sizes, the Army and Marines are shoveling money into more advertising, extra recruiters and bigger...

Columnists Jackie Mason and Raoul Felder, in a recent American Spectator article, supported the creation of an American Foreign Legion.Mason, a stand-up comedian, and Felder, a stand-up attorney, wrote: "To be honest, we never cared much for the French, nor as they have made it very clear, did they care much for us, although if it wasn't for America they would be singing the "Horst Wesel" song at the Folies Bergère and Wiener Schnitzel would be the specialty of the local McDonald's."Mason and Felder said they would sooner go to a square dance, or worse yet, a Karaoke bar, than...

As America prepares for war with Iraq, strains on the United States military are beginning to show. The active-duty forces are stretched thin and the reserves are stressed by prolonged mobilization. To confront this problem and make the war on terrorism a truly global one, it's time we consider making our military a truly global force. Over the past 16 years, the number of people serving in the active-duty forces has declined 35 percent. Contrary to what the Pentagon says, it is seriously open to question whether we could deal with simultaneous wars in, say, the Middle East and on...

The airport baggage handler found to have an arsenal of weapons and Islamic literature in his car may have been telling the truth with his insistence that he was framed. Police in France have arrested the former parents-in-law of Abderazak Besseghir on suspicions they tried to set him up by planting guns and explosives in his car. As WorldNetDaily previously reported, police found an automatic pistol, a machine gun, five cakes of plastic explosives and two detonators inside Besseghir's vehicle Dec. 28, parked in a lot next to the Air France terminal at Charles de Gaulle Airport. The trunk additionally...