Paru le 15/11/2002 | Relié 160 pages
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The Légionnaires Parachutistes are modest people in spite of their brilliant service record. They are hard workers and are faithful to the old adage that `toil saves blood' ; they are always ready for the tasks that the Republic entrusts to them. When this is the case, the mission is carried out with the true efficiency of the old Legion.
They are modest and proud of the work they do ! This pride in their service and success is encouraged within the regiment so that the old and the new legionaries are steeped in it.
This is what gives the REP its strength.
Often they would prefer the media and the cameras forget them so that they can get on with the work in hand more calmly... but it is difficult to avoid your own legend.
Nowadays, and far too often in their opinion, the Green Berets of the 2e Régiment Etranger de Parachutistes find themselves in the limelight and in this modern world of ours the result is not always a happy one.
The myth of the superman without moods or of military romanticism does not go away easily, and even if it is to be found in some of the legionaries, the 2e REP is first and foremost an exceptional fighting unit in the service of France.
The aim of this book is to present the 2e REP just as it is, without adding to the mystique. I hope I have succeeded. War is not waged with choirboys, but it is in this warrior and specialist community that I found the values which have often disappeared from our society : simplicity, disinterestedness, efficiency and above all the enormous human warmth of men shaped by ordeal.
Yves Debay
