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 2^e 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 2^e REP is first and foremost

an exceptional fighting unit in the service of France.

The aim of this book is to present the 2^e 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