Evening star., 1932-07-19
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, July 10 NAN.A).-
THE only trouble with these exciting
movies about u.s." says Edgar Guerard
Hamilton of Waterbury, Conn, the only
American ever to rise to captains
rank in the French Foreign Legion, rs
that they are taken with lens OF fancy
on film of imagination. The uniforms
and customs are wrong. have never
seen a sand dune since joined and
If a bare-footed Marlene Dietrich fol-
lowed us on the march, many OF us
would enlist for life"
Capt. Hamilton figures that. out OF
the 25, 900 men in the Legion, about 10
per cent are Germans. He explains
this by saying that, after the war. there
was no place left for many OF them TO
20. and that the Germans are military
race The songs of the Legion. he says.
are German and that is the common
language of the enlisted men The
official language of the Legion, natur-
ally, is French.
Must be Stonemasons.
1.-THE Foreign Legion" declares Capt
Hamilton, lis made up mainly either
Of youngsters with a desire for adven-
ture, or of men who want to eat. They
are good soldiers and they have to have
courage and stamina. Contrary to
a pick more than they do a rifle. And
each of them must be stonemason-
frequently have thought that the Legion
emblem should be troWel
1T is true" continued the legionnaire,
that the men grow to be hard boiled,
but there are no more toughs among
them than you will find in any other
outfit. The most difficult recruits to
handle are the French. They are in
the Legion only because they can't get
in the regular French regiments, or
have been thrown out and are wanted
by the police. They enlist as Swiss.
The only man I ever had take a shot
at me was Frenchman, and he was
not after me. He was out to lick the
regiment
"The men," said Capt. Hamilton,
"are almost fanatically loyal to their
officers and will follow them anywhere.
Their first and greatest obligation Is to
the Legion. They would follow their
colonel against any one he chose to
fight.
Few Americans in Ranks.
"Americans? There must be about
5O-not many among 25, 900 men. The
only other American since the war who
held a commission was a second lieu
tenant. He lasted for perhaps q year,
but couldn't stand the gaff. although
he never got further than the training
camp Nevertheless, I understand he
came back to the United States and
wrote some articles.
Another American in the outfit, "
said the captain. was Doty, the de-
serter. That didn't mean anything.
We have men desert every day. but
most Of them come back of their own
accord. They are not trying to get
away. They just have a bit of money
left and stay A. w. o. L. Some the po-
lice bring back; others, who really want
to desert. get away.
But Doty took rifle with him,
which is considered a heinous crime,
because in such cases the gun almost
invariably falls into the hands Of hos
tile tribesmen. Then Doty fired on the
squad that was sent to get him. In
any other army he would have been
shot. The French gave him a sentence
of eight years, but let him go on rep
resentations from the United States.
Released Briton, Too.
ITO show their fairness, they released
at the same time the Englishman Har-
vey, who deserted with Doty-two Of
the four cases I know where a man got
out before the term Of his enlistment
expired"
Capt. Hamilton said that both Harvey
and Doty wrote books about the Legion.
He disagreed with Harveys findings,