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New website with books about the FFL

Joseph Cosgrove

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Greyman created a website for me with the aim of sharing the 3 books that I wrote about and around the Legion. The aim is to provide a free and entertaining site for people to consult at their leisure. The future aim is for those that have written a book and are despaired with publishers and agents, to share their story with others. The books have not been professionally edited but as you are not paying anything; then you are free to not log on again and try elsewhere.
Later anyone publishing on the site and gets noticed by an agent can withdraw his/her book or essay from the site. Any fees or royalties that he/she earns is entirely his or hers. You may even wish to first publish on the site, just to get some feed back from the general public, before submitting elsewhere.
These first 3 stories are fiction based on my time in the Legion and so is not an actual account of what is waiting for today’s recruit. The spirit of the Legion has not, however, evaporated nor has the camaraderie, so you will be able to have an idea of the behind the scene’s Legion. If you enjoy them, all well and good, pass over the url to others you know who enjoy these types of books.
A very, VERY special thank you to Greyman for creating the site in his own time and at his own expense. I saw it building, from the frontside, day after day and can only imagine what must go into it at the rear end. It started out by me PMing Greyman to ask if he knew how I could go about publishing my book on the forum for members and visitors to read. He advised me against it and backed it up with logistical jargon. He then offered to create a website for me. I said yes of course and added that it wasn't just one book but three and a fourth in the making.
Greyman will be upgrading the site in his spare time once in the Legion, so we should have a tip top site with people sharing their work with others. Eat your hearts out kindle, Sony and the rest. Also thanks to Ossis O. for providing photos which helped to colour the site and put more Legion ambiance into it. The site is not a forum and it is not there to give any advice to people wanting to join the Legion. At a later stage anyone inquiring about the Legion will be directed to the cervens.net forum.

The site name may seem a bit unusual but there is a reason for it.
Joe
www.legionnaire-joe-of-the-french-foreign-legion.com
 

cupcake

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Thank you Greyman and Joseph! The website looks good, will be reading 'Forlorn hope' tonight :)
 

stefankidd

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Thanks for sharing it with us guys ! *grabs a beer and opens the site*
 

Perun

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Thank you for sharing this material Joseph!
A lot of hard work behind being an author ,hope there will be a publisher to appreciate the result.
Nice job Greyman !
 

Sasa92

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I just skimmed through to see right before training, will definitely give it a read over later tonight. Thanks for sharing Joe.
 

tcerqueira

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is it really necessary do kill animals (that monkey head)? i understand if it was on extreme survival but was really that?
 

boss

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Congrats, I will check it asap..
good and generous idea....
just a suggestion ; for people without permanent internet connections, or for a more comfortable use: to compile /edit books (whatever format pdf, epub ebook...) in a download section of your website -or here- ? so we can read them on tablets and ipads - that's what I actually enjoy the most ( to travel) -?

I really think that , if you want to deliver 'em to lots of people, you need to think about it, and sure with Greyman (thanks G.) you'll find lots of help (me incl)...and keep the website to promote the whole stuff...
 

Sarajevo1992

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I can only say, nice reads. ( was hoping for some non fiction and read perhaps something about people i might know) and to Greyman. Great work and chapeau to you. You might seem to be a blunt guy in your posts but turned out to be a nice guy wit a great heart.
 

Hitsuji

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is it really necessary do kill animals (that monkey head)? i understand if it was on extreme survival but was really that?

Relax I'm sure it had long and beautiful life and died of natural causes. On serious side I'd like to see how many people would survive "extreme survival" without hunting and other experience that comes along.

Joseph this is really AWESOME idea, I hope it works out I hope Grayman will have enough time to protect it and maintain it. Perhaps you should put up some rules because people can come up with troublesome ideas. I can't wait to read the books, I also plan on becoming a writer one day.
 

Greyman

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I hope it works out I hope Grayman will have enough time to protect it and maintain it. Perhaps you should put up some rules because people can come up with troublesome ideas. I can't wait to read the books, I also plan on becoming a writer one day.

I hope it works out to. Regarding protection and maintenance time: I am going to give it what I can, the moment it becomes to much I will hook Joe up with another webmaster who will work with him to keep it running smoothly ;) As for the rules: this is just something I slapped together. This is by no means the finished project. It will have 'rules' (terms and conditions/protocols 'legal shit' etc that will be longer than some of the books on it.. however this is up to Joe to employ a lawyer and get some copyright protection.. this has already been discussed with Joe in some depth.. something I don't have time to do for him at present.. and maybe not at all.. that kind of thing can get very complex very quickly to do 'officially' with the internet.. i.e people stealing content and photos etc etc..)

Good luck with your writing too ;)
 

Greyman

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Congrats, I will check it asap..
good and generous idea....
just a suggestion ; for people without permanent internet connections, or for a more comfortable use: to compile /edit books (whatever format pdf, epub ebook...) in a download section of your website -or here- ? so we can read them on tablets and ipads - that's what I actually enjoy the most ( to travel) -?

I really think that , if you want to deliver 'em to lots of people, you need to think about it, and sure with Greyman (thanks G.) you'll find lots of help (me incl)...and keep the website to promote the whole stuff...

The site is just a 'slap up' it requires ALLOT more work. As for being able to read the 'stories' on iPads, tablets, mobile phones etc etc it is already able to do all that. I have made it 'liquid' which means the site automatically adapts to various screen sizes, browsers, and devices. So it can be read comfortably across all these devices already.. it just automatically adjusts all the formatting and structures according to the device it is on.. however this still does require some more work.. which equals more time.. something I don't have any more left of.. for now ;)
 

tcerqueira

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I can't say how far i'll go to survive, I could say if i had experienced something extreme
 

Greyman

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is it really necessary do kill animals (that monkey head)? i understand if it was on extreme survival but was really that?

You a vegetarian mate?

Congrats, I will check it asap..
good and generous idea....
just a suggestion ; for people without permanent internet connections, or for a more comfortable use: to compile /edit books (whatever format pdf, epub ebook...) in a download section of your website -or here- ? so we can read them on tablets and ipads - that's what I actually enjoy the most ( to travel) -?

I really think that , if you want to deliver 'em to lots of people, you need to think about it, and sure with Greyman (thanks G.) you'll find lots of help (me incl)...and keep the website to promote the whole stuff...

The site is just a 'slap up' it requires ALLOT more work. As for being able to read the stories, and other content, on iPads, tablets, mobile phones etc etc it is already able to do all that. I have made it 'liquid' which means the site automatically adapts to various screen sizes, browsers, and devices. So it can be read comfortably across all these devices already.. it just automatically adjusts all the formatting and structures according to the device it is on.. however this still does require some more work.. which equals more time.. something I don't have any more left of.. for now ;) I do intend on having it set up in such away that you can download the content to read on devices without being connected to the internet.. (PDFs and the like). You can currently do this manually by copying the content out so you can read it later.. but I understand this is not ideal. That is the only reason I have not disabled the right click function at present something I intend to disable in time for security reasons ;)

I hope it works out I hope Grayman will have enough time to protect it and maintain it. Perhaps you should put up some rules because people can come up with troublesome ideas. I can't wait to read the books, I also plan on becoming a writer one day.

I hope it works out to. Regarding protection and maintenance time: I am going to give it what I can, the moment it becomes too much I will hook Joe up with another webmaster who will work with him to keep it running smoothly ;) As for the rules: this is just something I slapped together. This is by no means the finished project. It will have 'rules' (terms and conditions/protocols 'legal shit' etc that will be longer than some of the books on it.. however this is up to Joe to employ a lawyer and get some copyright protection.. this has already been discussed with Joe in some depth.. something I don't have time to do for him at present.. and maybe not at all.. that kind of thing can get very complex very quickly to do 'officially' with the internet.. i.e people stealing content and photos etc etc..)

Good luck with your writing too ;)

I can't say how far i'll go to survive, I could say if i had experienced something extreme

Depends on how hungry you get I suppose.. huh fella?
 

tcerqueira

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I suppose haha, everything that was on the plate in the legion I ate, I ain't no weirdo with food,
 

Greyman

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I suppose haha, everything that was on the plate in the legion I ate, I ain't no weirdo with food,

So then you DO understand it IS quite necessary. Especially if it is your only option.. and especially if you don't like Tofu, Soya Beans, and stuff like that.. or maybe don't have access to it.. gotta get that protein in from somewhere and the human body actually requires allot of protein from animal byproducts.. its kind of a fundamental staple.. good ole bit a monkey meat down the hatch ;)
 

Joseph Cosgrove

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Congrats, I will check it asap..
good and generous idea....
just a suggestion ; for people without permanent internet connections, or for a more comfortable use: to compile /edit books (whatever format pdf, epub ebook...) in a download section of your website -or here- ? so we can read them on tablets and ipads - that's what I actually enjoy the most ( to travel) -?

I really think that , if you want to deliver 'em to lots of people, you need to think about it, and sure with Greyman (thanks G.) you'll find lots of help (me incl)...and keep the website to promote the whole stuff...
Hello Boss, I understand (NOW) what your are talking about but I think that Greyman took all that into account. Believe me I have no idea about this stuff. So again hats of to Greyman for his efforts.
 

Greyman

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I can only say, nice reads. ( was hoping for some non fiction and read perhaps something about people i might know) and to Greyman. Great work and chapeau to you. You might seem to be a blunt guy in your posts but turned out to be a nice guy wit a great heart.

Thanks ;) I am hoping to provide Joe, his site, AND this site some 'non-fiction' stories, bit by bit of course, within the year.. but obviously that is 100% dependent on a positive outcome.. ;) .. otherwise I won't have any stories to tell..
 

Joseph Cosgrove

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is it really necessary do kill animals (that monkey head)? i understand if it was on extreme survival but was really that?
I see what you're saying tcerquiera. In the 3REI you go on what is known as a mission fluvial. This usually proceeds a mission profond. The fluvial as it's name suggests is along the river which separates Guyana from Brazil. You visit the natives camps and the gendarme out posts. It's a courtesy visit and a show of presence. You are taken in piroques boats piloted by locals who know the jungle. They do not have rations with them, they eat anything available.
Although when you first get to the regiment, everyone, goes on five days jungle training. How to pitch a hammock, make a shelter, make a fire (remember it is a rain forest) how to set traps and so. The training continues on the ground especially mission fluvial. The pilots will point into the wall of trees and show you an animal. As you get loser you see the animal. He then blows it out of the tree for his evening meal. Each animal is skinned and cut up in front of the section. Then in small groups you are taken with them in different directions. He will make a bow but usually already has his arrows. You get shown how to make them but it takes too long. He will show you how to track and so on. Certain snakes are deadly poisonous if you eat certain parts of them. You are taught which part to take out.
Monkeys, lot's of them have tuberculosis, how to recognize the signs. like humans it shows in the lungs. An advance state stands out a mile. But the beginning is not so easy to detect. Another important organ to check is the liver. A monkey has to be 'bled' and then skinned, on a male you have to carefully remove it's genitals. You can read about it from a book and learn about it in a classroom, but believe me it's not the same.
Armadillos and turtles, not that difficult to open when you know how.
Frogs and lizards, you have to know which ones to eat and which to avoid. Some frogs are neurotoxic, highly dangerous just to touch. The good thing is you can't miss them
Fish, hope no-one has anything against eating them, there are several ways of cooking them. The locals bury them in a fire, protected by certain wood and leaves. There is no smoke what so ever. For them the advantage is not to frighten away any other game. For the legionnaire on an escape and evasion exercise/mission not giving away your position to the enemy has its advantages.
So in a nut shell, yes it was necessary to eat the monkey because it was necessary to kill it.
Mission profond means marching through the jungle for 30 to 40 days carrying your rations, trans. chain saw, dynamite, rope and so on. believe me it is tiring. If the worse comes to the worse, the section knows how to live off the land.
www.legionnaire-joe-of-the-french-foreign-legion.com
 
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