If you notice any errors in the translations, remember:
"In the Legion, of the 144 languages, there is only one language: understanding each other."
Edito from PYC
French Patriotism,
1/3 Understanding
Trilogy, by Louis Perez y Cid
A foreigner and still a student, I had been in France for barely a year when May 1968 erupted. In Paris and then Strasbourg, I discovered an intensely politicized country, where the words "left" and "right" recurred like an enigma to which I had no key.
I watched this upheaval with quiet irony. It was only later that I understood that here, even the dispute reveals something about attachment to the country.
A foreigner and still a student, I had been in France for barely a year when May 1968 erupted. In Paris and then Strasbourg, I discovered an intensely politicized country, where the words "left" and "right" recurred like an enigma to which I had no key.
I watched this upheaval with quiet irony. It was only later that I understood that here, even the dispute reveals something about attachment to the country.
The Rupture
May '68 transcended France, but it was not limited to it. Everywhere, a larger and better-educated generation challenged forms of authority: the State, the university, the family. And, in a subtle paradox, it was also prosperity that made this challenge possible; one doubts more when one is better off.
In France, however, the crisis took on a particular intensity. Overcrowded universities, a still rigid society, deep social tensions—the stage was set. And above all, a rare event occurred: the encounter between students and workers, which paralyzed the country.
Nothing was directed, nothing was centralized. May '68 was neither a contagion nor an imitation; it was a convergence. Read more...
In France, however, the crisis took on a particular intensity. Overcrowded universities, a still rigid society, deep social tensions—the stage was set. And above all, a rare event occurred: the encounter between students and workers, which paralyzed the country.
Nothing was directed, nothing was centralized. May '68 was neither a contagion nor an imitation; it was a convergence. Read more...
Views of the Elders
The Legion Unvarnished 5
My father told me:
Returning to France after more than three years in Madagascar, during a leave, my father said to me: “You see, my son, when I saw the Germans during the war, I thought of the young men for whom the words ‘Nazism, Fascism, Communism, Radicalism’ were meaningless terms with indeterminate, vague values.
These soldiers, with their disturbing yet fascinating discipline, were handsome, strong, proud, and smiling; they were undeniably made for victory, not defeat. They had everything it took to attract an athletic young man.
After the Liberation, many of these young men who had been seduced into joining the SS or the LVF were shot; they completed a picture where scores were settled without mercy and where even women who had ‘colluded’ with the Germans were publicly shorn.
Their enlistment was the consequence of a complete lack of education.” Politically, it took very little for them to enlist, go fight, and become those fine, proud, and valiant soldiers themselves. A few resounding pronouncements, a different environment, a different circle of friends—very little indeed—and that's how heroes and traitors were made, or at least those who ended up being labeled as such, recruited from among the same naive and sincere young men.
Haven't you taken the wrong path, son?... Read more...
Reflexions
On Patriotism, Confused Reflections...
By Christian Morisot
“Love of country is the first and last love after the love of God.”
Verlaine
Like religion, the homeland has its worship, its temples, its martyrs, its popes. The first Christians died for their God; in 1914-1918, more than 1.6 million Frenchmen died for their country.
“Love of country is the first and last love after the love of God.”
Verlaine
Like religion, the homeland has its worship, its temples, its martyrs, its popes. The first Christians died for their God; in 1914-1918, more than 1.6 million Frenchmen died for their country.
Since the war taught some nothing, it is interesting to hear the patriotism of the time regarding the slaughter of the French soldiers. The homeland, it was said, is a historical reality from which one can hardly escape; nature imposes it upon us like our parents. What constitutes the homeland, according to Renan, is the shared possession of a rich legacy of memories, the present-day consent, the desire to live together, the will to continue to uphold the heritage one has received... Read more...
Share your point of view
Response to the article:
Dien Bien Phu.
Why did we hold on?
By Christian Morisot
Our friend PyC briefly explains in a timely editorial, following the commemoration of the end of the Indochina War and Dien Bien Phu, why the soldiers held on to the very end with exemplary willpower.
To clarify the main subject of his article, he makes a surprising revelation: "One does not die for an idea, but for one's own!" Thus, he arrives almost naturally at an inescapable conclusion: "Our legionnaires and the French soldiers at Dien Bien Phu held on for an idea that had been long debated; Not because of a mechanically executed order, but because at that precise moment, leaving for a safer place (to where?) would have meant abandoning loved ones…
Read more...
Our friend PyC briefly explains in a timely editorial, following the commemoration of the end of the Indochina War and Dien Bien Phu, why the soldiers held on to the very end with exemplary willpower.
To clarify the main subject of his article, he makes a surprising revelation: "One does not die for an idea, but for one's own!" Thus, he arrives almost naturally at an inescapable conclusion: "Our legionnaires and the French soldiers at Dien Bien Phu held on for an idea that had been long debated; Not because of a mechanically executed order, but because at that precise moment, leaving for a safer place (to where?) would have meant abandoning loved ones…
Read more...
Literary Explorations
The LEGIONAR Trilogy
Thanks to our friend Mickaël de Prat, Légion'Arts is pleased to highlight a new author, a former legionnaire, whose unique journey and human experience enrich the spirit and values upheld by our community.
Louis Perez y Cid
By Branko Bencic
LEGIONAR is a trilogy about a journey within the French Foreign Legion and the lasting impact such an experience has on a man. In a personal, understated, and well-researched style, it follows the entry into a world apart, governed by its own rules, then the training, service, responsibility, the limits of endurance, camaraderie, and the gradual inner development of a man who, through experience, learns his own limits. Read more...
All this is happening above our heads
Red Sun
By Michel Gravereau
Who hasn't marveled at a magnificent sunset at the end of the day, alone, as a couple, or with friends? This breathtaking spectacle, which illuminates the horizon with its coppery hue, gives the sun a red tint, almost visible to the naked eye, whereas just a few minutes earlier, the sunlight was simply unbearable.
Who hasn't marveled at a magnificent sunset at the end of the day, alone, as a couple, or with friends? This breathtaking spectacle, which illuminates the horizon with its coppery hue, gives the sun a red tint, almost visible to the naked eye, whereas just a few minutes earlier, the sunlight was simply unbearable.
What causes this change in brightness?
When the sun reaches the lowest point of the horizon, its light passes through ten times more atmosphere than when it is high in the sky. Let's not forget, once again, that the Earth is round and that for the same thickness of atmosphere, the tangent from your observation point will pass through more atmospheric gas than a vertical line.
I've already had occasion to... Read more...
When the sun reaches the lowest point of the horizon, its light passes through ten times more atmosphere than when it is high in the sky. Let's not forget, once again, that the Earth is round and that for the same thickness of atmosphere, the tangent from your observation point will pass through more atmospheric gas than a vertical line.
I've already had occasion to... Read more...
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WHO WE ARE
Légion’Arts is an independent publishing house created by former legionnaire artists: preserving and sharing the memory of the Foreign Legion through authentic, human, and inspiring works. Every legionnaire has a voice. With Légion’Arts, these stories become a collective memory, accessible to all.