Help Finding A French Camerade

[ArtyFO]

When I was in Somalia, I struck up a friendship with a French soldier (not Legionnaire) at the Old Port compound in Mogadishu. We corresponded for a few years afterwards but lost contact.

His name is Bruno Francis, and I found a Facebook profile with that name in indicating a position (Vacancier Eternal) at Armée de Terre. He doesn't show a picture so I can't tell.

Would any French speakers with knowledge of finding French veterans be willing to help track him down? Perhaps other sources besides Facebook?

The attached pic is from a letter he wrote to me from Bosnia in 1994.

 

[Le petit caporal]

You have the name
You have the rank
You have the fonction. .Genie / Engineers
France has a policy of not giving details of "persons", who do not want their where abouts known. ..even close family

If i was you. ..i would write to his ex regiment (he is civil by now..being a NCO...might maintain contact with his ex unit)
A couple of post it's, correctly placed in the mess bar,might ring a bell to those who served with
Hope this helps

 

[ArtyFO]

You have the name
You have the rank
You have the fonction. .Genie / Engineers
France has a policy of not giving details of "persons", who do not want their where abouts known. ..even close family

Thank you, Caporal. Yes, it helps.

 

[Peter Lyderik]

Could it be this guy?

http://copainsdavant.linternaute.com/p/francis-bruno-2854334

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

Could it be this guy?

http://copainsdavant.linternaute.com/p/francis-bruno-2854334

If it is bravo Peter !

 

[ArtyFO]

Could it be this guy?

http://copainsdavant.linternaute.com/p/francis-bruno-2854334

Thanks for the infor, Peter. I will have to follow the leads that your source includes. My bunch is that this person is too old, but nonetheless, this is worthy of some more research. I appreciate you posting this. If I can find him, next trip to France i will meet up

 

[Rapace]

The profile of the guy in Copains d’avant (in French Buddies from before, literally translated) doesn’t show any time spent in Somalia.

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

Not really my favorite singer, but there you go.

 

[ArtyFO]

The profile of the guy in Copains d’avant (in French Buddies from before, literally translated) doesn’t show any time spent in Somalia.

Thanks for taking a look, Rapace. I think I might have found him on Facebook and wrote him a note.

 

[Joseph Cosgrove]

ArtyFO, the address is a military SP secteur postale Which means that it will first go to France to the BPM Bureau de Poste Militaire or vaguemestre as it is known in military camps. So there is no point in putting on stamps to get to a different country.
The people who work in the BPMs are civilians who, when overseas, are given a uniform and rank. If you send an envelope with with the SP address, there is a chance that it will be forwarded on to him. Just don't put your return address on the back.

 

[Rapace]

The Francis (Christian name) Bruno (surname) profile found on FB seems to be the same as the one found by Peter Lyderik on the site Copains d'avant. The guys was a military Engineer and worked in French Polynesia. Don't see anything about a deployment in Somalia. Anyway, you have his picture on FB so you may remember if this is the guy you're looking for.
In any case why not contact him directly via FB ? Don't bother writing to the address shown on the envelope. SP, as mentioned by Joseph, means Secteur Postal, it's a military address that is generally temporary and is used to send snail mail to servicemen deployed out of France. In some cases, the address can remain in service several years if the deployment becomes semi-permanent (e.g. Opération “Barkhane” in Mali), but otherwise, it becames invalid as soon as the deployment comes to an end.

 

[ArtyFO]

If you send an envelope with with the SP address, there is a chance that it will be forwarded on to him. Just don't put your return address on the back.

I won't send a letter to that address because that is from a letter of over 20 years ago. I can't imagine they would route it to him, especially if he is likely to be retired a long time ago. Or?

The Francis (Christian name) Bruno (surname) profile found on FB seems to be the same as the one found by Peter Lyderik on the site Copains d'avant. The guys was a military Engineer and worked in French Polynesia. Don't see anything about a deployment in Somalia. Anyway, you have his picture on FB so you may remember if this is the guy you're looking for.

Rapace, would you be able to PM me the link to that particular profile. I'm not finding that profile with the French Polynesia info. I did write to a couple Bruno Francis: one was retired military and from our exhange of notes we determined he is not the write guy. The other one, who lists a current employer as "Agent Commerical," I wrote to. His picture looks like the write guy. But last time I saw him, we were either ducking bullets, or getting f****ckd up on his stash of wine.

 

[Rapace]

(...) Rapace, would you be able to PM me the link to that particular profile. (...)

Check your inbox. PM sent.

 

[ArtyFO]

Rapace is da man! I think he found my old comrade for me. Hopefully he returns my message soon.

 

[ArtyFO]

I heard back from my old comrade today. Thanks especially to Rapace for finding his profile in Facebook (somehow my search there was unsuccessful). Hoping to get a chance to visit him if we can get our schedules together. I am certainly not going to visit him in Tchad where he works. Maybe I will meet up with him in Thailand where his family is or in France next year. Thanks so much for those who helped me. Pretty f**king nice of you to take the time for a non-legionnaire.
Respectfully yours, ArtyFO