French Foreign Legion

The French Foreign Legion (French: Légion Étrangère) has been a unique and distinguished unit within the French Army since 1831. It takes its name from the fact that, as an exception in French military forces, foreigners enlist in its ranks.

The Legion in popular culture

The existence of the French Foreign Legion has led to a romantic view that it is a place for a wronged man to leave behind his old life to start a new one, but also that it is full of scoundrels and men escaping justice. This view of the legion is common in literature, and has been used for dramatic effect in many movies, not the least of which are the several versions of Beau Geste. The Legion is also depicted in the U.S. comic strip Crock.

Related Topics:
Literature - Movies - Beau Geste - U.S. - Comic strip - Crock

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There is a French song made famous by Edith Piaf called "Mon Legionnaire".

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Ante Gotovina's biography The General, written by Croatian writer Nenad Ivankovic, is mainly about Gotovina's life in the Legion.

Related Topics:
Ante Gotovina - The General - Croatian writer - Nenad Ivankovic - Gotovina

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Most recently, the Legion was revealed in a contemporary (July 2005) documentary Escape to the Legion, commissioned by the British television channel, Channel 4. In this four-part series, 11 volunteers with Bear Grylls explored the myths, romanticism and rigours of basic training in the French Foreign Legion.

Related Topics:
British - Channel 4 - Bear Grylls

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Additionally, Legion of the Lost an autobiography by Jaime Salazar published in 2005, chronicles his experience as an American citizen who joined the legion out of boredom and disenfranchisement from white collar America.

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The Foreign Legion was also portrayed in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles tv series during WWI.

Related Topics:
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles - WWI

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Legionaire, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, depicted the Foreign Legion's battles against Algerian berbers.

Related Topics:
Legionaire - Jean-Claude Van Damme

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The Mummy, starring Brendan Fraser, begins with Fraser's character, Rick O'Connell, a member of Foreign Legion and fighting in ruins of Hamunapftra (City of Dead).

Related Topics:
The Mummy - Brendan Fraser

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The 1939 comedy, Flying Deuces is one of the most popular films to star the duo Laurel and Hardy. The film begins with the pair joining the Foreign Legion and much of the comedy comes from their experiences.

Related Topics:
1939 - Flying Deuces - Laurel and Hardy

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In science fiction writer Jerry Pournelles "Future History", http://www.chronology.org/pournelle/, whose main character is a future soldier of fortune named John Christian Falkenberg, there is a central role to the CoDominium Navy, which fights on all kinds of planets far away in space, and which had been created out of the French Foreign Legion and still keeps many of its traditions such as the aforementioned "Camerone Day".

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The movie, Savior, with Dennis Quaid, is about an American who joins the legion after he shoots a group of Muslims (following a Muslim bombing of the restaurant where his wife and son were--both die). In the legion, Quaid is a sniper and is involved in the Bosnia/Serb/Croatian ethnic wars.

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