The state herald., 1919-02-21
CHAPTER ~.

Ill =
CHAPTER ~.
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In ths Foreign Legion.
This tms ] was determined to O.
Mst. So, whea We landed at st. Ma
zalre. I drew my pay from the Vir.
ginian and, after spending a week
with my srsndmother. I went out and
asked tAs nest gendarme met where
the enlistment station was. I had to
argue Win him some time before he
would even direct me to 1t. OF course
I had 10 passport and this made him
suspiciDus Of me.
The o6Scsr In charge Of the station
was no warmer In his welcome than
the g0darme, and this surprised me.
because Murray and Brown had no
trouble at all In joining. The French.
Of course. often speak Of NE Foreign
1egioa - ''the convicts." because 20
many lagionaries are wanted By the
police of thelr respective countries
but q criminal record never had been
Q bar b service with the legion, and ]
did not zee why II should be now-if
they suspected me oe having one. I
had heard there were not few Ger
m1hs b the legion-iatsr On I became
acquainted with soms-and believe
me, no Ahatian ever fought harder
against The Huns than these former
Deutschlanders did. Il occurred to
me then that Il they thought I was
q German. because had no passport
I might have to prove I had been In
trouble with the kaiser's crew before
they would accept ms. Ido not know
what the real trouble was. but solved
the problem By allowing them my dis
charge papers from the American
navy. Hyen then. they were Suspicious
because they thought I was too young
to have been Q @ p. o. When they
challenged No on this point, I said
woeld prove II to them By taking an
examinatioo.
Thsy examined me very carefully.
in Engliah. although kAow enough
French to est By On q subject like
gunnssy. But foreign ofncsrs are very
proud Of thsif knowledge Of nngiish-
and most Of them can speak itAand !
think this one wanted to show Oh. a
you might say. Anyway. I passed my
e1AminAtieo without any trouble,
was accepted for service In The For.
sisn Legion and received my commits.
non - gunner. dated Friday. January
!, 1915
There y no use In my describing the
Foreign Lagioo. II is oos of the most
famous Ashnns organisations II the
world, and has made Q wonderful rec
ord during ths war. When I Joined La
Legion, Il numbered about o0000 men.
Today Il ~ less than 5000. Thsy
~ that slnes August. INA ths LEGION
has ben v4psd out three timsA and
that thers afe only Q nv men stu In
Rvies who bsloagsd b he original
lsgioa- believe Il b b. true. In
January of Ills year the French GOV.
eminent dsddsd b let ths legion die
] was soEsy b Aeaf 4 Ths legion
naires wsss . Ans body Of men, and
wonderful 1ShtsfA But the who'll
civilized Void y now fighting ~
Huns, anA Amse1eans Do not have b
enlist Win ~ Preach o. the Llmeyl
any longer.
But ons thing about the legion. thai
] nnd many people Do not know. 10 thai
the legionnairss aFs ussd for slthsl
land or SEQ sssviea TAsy are ssot whsr
ever they can b used. % not know
whether this vas the eass before thl
present waf| think not-but h M
time. many q he men were put q
shipa Most people. however. have ~
idea that they are only used In the II
fantzy.
With my coomissioo a. gunner,
received ordsss b 20 to Brest and joil
the dreadnAusht Cassard. This q
signment tickSed me. for my pal Mur
ray was aboard. and ] had sxpsctst
trouble In transfsFFing 10 his ship b
case ] was asa0sd slsswhsra VI
had famsd n - b stick toesthss q
long - W eoaid. We did. TOO.
ksrny wss - siad - I vas whsa
] came sbeard, aAd b. told me ~ ~
heAgd Brown. our other pal had bssl
na64 sergeant - another regiDsei
of ths legion.
We Wsrc both SURPRISED at some q
The diasrsoess bstWesa ~ Trsnc1
navy and ours. but after vs got uss<
70 \ ~ thoueAt oaAy q thslf Gus
tens iDpeot00eats ov0e safs. But VI
could ~ est used 10 Il at arse Fol
instance. - aA American ship, vhss
10 ass pssading your ear In . nies
waam hanassk and Il y time b -
iisvs ~ wateh On deck. Nike = 10
~ m - avakcned gsatiy By buil,
esfey aSDs6 with . h11Sy wand abou
~ ~ q Q bsd Mak whereas Il
rfsncA sAipA when thsy call th'
watch. ~ would think roo were IN I
swell hotel and had left word at III
!.