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What has the Legion done for me?

dusaboss

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We (Ex ...no no no, former-Yugoslavia :)) have couple wars during 90s. And civil war is all different game than when professional soldier goes over seas to wage the war against culture and people who are not similar to its own.

We were traumatized as nation for long period of time. Still you can't find many cases of PTSD partially because here is big shame to have some mental illness so even if someone got some troubles he would probably be quiet about that.

I know for one case, father of my close friend, but he got nice pension for that and people said that he was little bit coo coo even before war, so....
Yeah. one need to have predisposition for mental illness and war is just a trigger (could be something else also)

Maybe ricktn40 , if he is willing, can tell us something more on subject?
 

jonny

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Hmmm. I guess simple answer would be legionnaires are tougher than rest. ;)

Probably there is something in psychological profile of men who join FFL. To be honest you have to be little bit crazy in order join FFL.
Than there is special kind of bonding among legionnaires, brotherhood etc. witch you cant find on that level in other armies.
Maybe something in training and legion's spirit overall.

Probably many factors together makes legionnaires last vulnerable to PTSD.

Also we should know that PTSD usually hits more soldiers of arms is where one can easily get some benefits from it so ... there is also some faking to. I mean you can't fake lost leg but with enough knowledge and intelligence one could easily fake psychological disorder.

Dusaboss, I couldn’t have put it better myself. You pretty
 

dusaboss

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Dusaboss, I couldn’t have put it better myself. You pretty
Also, have to add that many legionnaires (especially in old day) are already been through some nasty shit prior to joining FFL.
So that make some kind of resilience to PTSD too. Like a vaccine. :)
 

jonny

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Dusaboss,

You have no idea how accurate you were with your observation that;

«Probably there is something in psychological profile of men who join FFL. To be honest you have to be little bit crazy in order join FFL»

I was! And not just a little bit either. More of that in my book.
 

USMCRET

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OK, what did the Romans ever do for us? Asked some comedian, I think.

So what did the Legion do for me? Well, it started by turning a wayward young sailor of 16, heavily into alcohol, into a reasonably good shape soldier in Algeria. Not a bad start, I reckon. Then I became a paratrooper in 2 REP and fought various skirmishes along the mountain ranges in eastern Algeria.

In June 1962 I went liberable as a 1ere classe legionnaire in Marseille, hired on a Norwegian ship, basically where I had left off 5 years earlier in Dakar. On Christmas Eve 1962 I knocked on the door of my mother’s apartment in Oslo, nearly eight years after leaving home as a 15 year old kid. By then I had only seven years of basic education. I spoke four languages fluently, but could only get jobs as a casual labourer in the harbour unloading ships, which was hard work. Four years later I was working as a civil engineer in a consulting engineering office in Oslo, wearing a white coat with a slide rule and pencils in my breast pocket.

So how did I do it? Well, that’s where Legion training comes in. Firstly you set a goal, then you go for it. Being tired is not an excuse, you just think you are tired. This is, I reckon, one of the basic tenets I took with me from the Legion. You feel dead tired,don’t want to study any more math, or whatever. Then you remember the endless marches through the Algerian mountains, and you say to yourself, hey you’re not really tired yet. It took me just three years to cover high school and a bachelor degree in civil engineering. With another year at university I had also obtained a masters degree.

Without the discipline and toughened up of the Legion I would never have gotten anywhere near where I am today, a happily comfortable retiree.


What a super post! Discipline instilled and lessons learned go a long long way. What a great account of what you took from the Legion and what you made of yourself, BRAVO ZULU, BRAVO!
 

Le petit caporal

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Misfits, or at least i was before joining !
The legion gave me a kind of stability ..food and bed, work and some rest with pay
If asked, where do you come from : the Legion
Where do you live : au quartier, 1st cie
Been civil for a long time now, soon be 22 years
This Brit exit crap, has seriously reduced my options in life.
The future looks bleak ...i do not know what it reserves me
Cant join the Legion, i ve done that
It's back to the begining for me, before i joined. ..a misfit wanderer
 

dusaboss

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Dusaboss,

You have no idea how accurate you were with your observation that;

«Probably there is something in psychological profile of men who join FFL. To be honest you have to be little bit crazy in order join FFL»

I was! And not just a little bit either. More of that in my book.

I know I am accurate ! (By the way I'm modest, humble boy. :))


It's just whether or not some greens are willing to accept my theory on this subject. Many will say "WTF he know, how was never part of FFL".

But I know! I feel legion spirit. I understand mentality of men joining. Simple because I'm really close with that way of thinking.

If I get accepted I think I would fit pretty well because I totally feel FFL philosophy (much as I can as outsider) and I have many things in common with guys joining.

I hope this saga with me and FFL will and right way. Hopefully soon.
 
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