Hanna - Rendezvous with Death: the Americans Who Joined the Foreign Legion in 1914 to Fight for France and for Civilization

Praise for

RENDEZVOUS WITH DEATH

This is the most mesmerizing book about World War I that I have read in a long time. It is the saga of American idealisms first confrontation with the tragedy of the Great War. Best of all it is a story that has never been told, much less understood. David Hanna has written a book to be read and remembered when we try to understand Americas role in a chaotic world.

Thomas Fleming, author of The Illusion of Victory: America in World War I

A brilliantly researched book that is a moving tribute to the American citizens of 1914 who fought in the French military for freedom and liberty. David Hanna gives the reader keys to better understand them and who they were. Their deeds, their achievement, and their spirit are living in this booklest we forget them.

Yves Fohlen, lecturer and guide at the Muse du Chemin des DamesCaverne du Dragon in Chemin des Dames, France

As in his previous book, Knights of the Sea, David Hanna is drawn to men and causes of a chivalrous nature. In Rendezvous with Death he writes of intrepid American menblack and white, rich and poorwho, in the early stages of World War I, are compelled to fight for ideas and values and not be passive spectators at the demise of European civilization.

Hanna leads the reader on a journey to a pivotal moment in history when great European armies and divergent ideologies clashed, locked in a desperate and drawn out struggle. August 1914 also brought together a mix of idealistic Americans in Paris who decided to make a stand for a cause they also saw as their own. The Americans Hanna introduces are a disparate group, but all are noble in spirit and deed and will make any reader reflect on those harrowing four yearsand even on the challenges of our current age.

The research is meticulous, including on-site visits to European battlegrounds, interviews with modern pilots of World War I aircraft, and even a conversation with an American veteran of the French Foreign Legion. Hannas World War I bookpart gripping world history and part collection of inspiring personal life storiesis a fully engaging read. Indeed, any American will feel proud reading this seldom-told story of his fellow countrymens spirit and sacrifice in the bloody fields of France.

Nicholas Valldejuli, 1er Rgiment tranger de cavalerie, 1er Rgiment tranger, Lgion Etrangre (ret.)

Copyright 2016 by David Hanna

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, website, or broadcast.

Regnery History is a trademark of Salem Communications Holding Corporation; Regnery is a registered trademark of Salem Communications Holding Corporation

First e-book edition 2016: ISBN 978-1-62157-544-3

Originally published in hardcover, 2016

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:

Names: Hanna, David, 1967- author.

Title: Rendezvous with death : The Americans who joined the Foreign Legion in 1914 to fight for France and for civilization / David Hanna.

Description: Washington, DC : Regnery Publishing, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016004232

Subjects: LCSH: World War, 1914-1918--United States. | World War, 1914-1918--Biography. | Americans--France--History--20th century. | France. Armee de terre. Legion etrangere--History--World War, 1914-1918.

Classification: LCC D570.1 .H27 2016 | DDC 940.4/1244092313--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016004232

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For John A. Ware

(19422013)

New Yorker, agent, mentor, friend, man about town

... fighting, dying, not only for Christianity, but for civilization. On the result of this clash... depends the preservation of the world.

Jack Bowe, 1918

I do not consider that I am fighting for France alone, but for the cause of humanity, the most noble of all causes.

Kiffin Rockwell, 1914

And on the tangled wires

The last wild rally staggers, crumbles, stops.

Withered beneath the shrapnels iron showers:

Now heaven be thanked, we gave a few brave drops;

Now heaven be thanked, a few brave drops were ours.

Alan Seeger, 1916

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Map courtesy of Midori Tuzuki

PARIS

(with numbered arrondissements)

Map courtesy of Midori Tuzuki

Chart courtesy of Midori Tuzuki

W hat would you risk your life for? For most of us, fortunately, this is a purely hypothetical question. Ones family and friends come immediately to mind. For some of us, our hometown or neighborhood might, as well. The patriotism that motivates a relative few to serve in our countrys armed forces fell out of fashion with the great majority of citizens long ago. What about an idea? Would you risk your life to defend something not linked to you by ties of blood or friendship, community or country? As the last days of July 1914 were swept into the past and the first frantic days of August hurried Europe and the world into an uncertain future, a group of Americans volunteered their services to the French government. The Lgion trangrethe Foreign Legionwould be their vehicle. These men were inspired by what they saw as a clear case of democratic values, culture, and civilization itself under attack from the forces of autocracy and a modern barbarism embodied by Kaiser Wilhelms Germany. With rare exception absolute amateurs, they chose to risk their lives for an idea. To see it protected, many of them would make the ultimate sacrifice.

These American citizens left behind promising careers and their families to join in combat with a foreign army and defend a country some of them had never even been to. For many of them, though, their previous experiences in France were a deep part of what motivated them to enter the fight. This was a country and a culture they identified with and believed was worth dying to defend. Their service would take them to the battlefields of Artois, Champagne, and Verdun. Their sacrifices preceded by nearly three years the eventual commitment by President Wilson to take America into the fight and finish what these men started.