Do People Really Run Off to Join the French Foreign Legion SHARE or EMBED2. Anyone who knows anything about Jean Claude Van Damme knows he played a French legionnaire in the movies. Mint SS Himmler 1934 Ehrendolch presentation honor dagger crafted exclusively by Carl Eickhorn. The SS Himmler presentation dagger was awarded to the SS officers. Code Of Honor The French Foreign Legion Patch' title='Code Of Honor The French Foreign Legion Patch' />He was just one of many actors to star in films that romanticized this mercenary force. Check out the details in this episode with Josh and Chuck. Announcer Welcome to Stuff You Should Know from howstuffworks. Chuck Josh, before we get started, we want to remind our loyal TV audience, we hear from you guys that say hey, this show is really growing on me, Im really liking it more and more, and we really appreciate that. The Mighty Whitey trope as used in popular culture. A common trope in 18th and 19th century adventure fiction, when Europeans were visiting and documenting. The Illuminati and The Council on Foreign Relations OneWorldGovernment Conspiracy. The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. Code Of Honor The French Foreign Legion Patch' title='Code Of Honor The French Foreign Legion Patch' />Josh We sure do. Chuck Your last chance to see said shows will be this Saturday, March 9th. Weve got our final marathon coming up. Curso Ingles Bbc. Josh Thats right, it starts at noon eastern time. Chuck Thats right. Josh And its on Science Channel, and its a whole marathon featuring some classic episodes called reruns plus two new episodes, both written by Mr. Charles W. Chuck Bryant. Beautiful episodes and one of which is the pilot, but even more confusingly, the fact that were airing the pilot as the season finale, is that thats not even the pilot pilot. The pilot will air after that, I believe. Chuck Yeah, so to avoid confusion. Josh Its a little late for that. Chuck Weve got John Hodgeman in the next to the last episode. Josh Yes. Chuck Which is a great one and a lot of fun. Josh Its about private space exploration. Chuck Thats right and then we have the originally it was episode one, to set up this whole shebang. Theyre airing this last, which is very unique in television and then the lost pilot that we shot over a year ago. Josh Thats really not even in the format of the actual show. Chuck Yeah, were airing that too because what the heckJosh Lets just throw it all at the wall and see if it sticks. Chuck Thats right. So noon oclock, set your DVRs. This will be the last of the original ten plus the bonus. Josh Yeah, season one. Chuck Dudes and dudettes, check it out on Amazon Instant or Google Play, or i. Tunes, or watch it live, or watch it on your DVR and we appreciate the support. Josh Yeah, and the rest of the world, hang in there, well try to get it to you somehow, some way. Chuck Were trying. Josh In the meantime, those of you in the States, if you really like our TV show and you want to see more stuff like behind the scenes clips, videos, read blogs from characters, go to stuffyoushouldknow. TV show tab. Chuck Yeah, and if youre one of those people that says, Hey, this shows really grown on me, why dont you go to The Science Channel Facebook page and make a little noise and say keep these guys around, we enjoyed it. Josh Sure, couldnt hurt, right Chuck I dont think so unless Science Channel sends guys to your house for commenting on their Facebook page. Josh No, they welcome that. Chuck Yep. Josh All right. Chuck Podcast time. Josh Lets do it. Hey and welcome to the podcast. Im Josh Clark and theres Charles W Chuck Bryant, which makes this Stuff You Should Know, the lightening quick edition. Is this lightening quickYes, because of the lightening. Chuck Oh, yeah, we have a tornadoes and stuff coming in so its like holding out at the OK Corral as the storm roles in. Josh Right, but wed also like to get out of the OK Corral before the storms get here. Chuck Thats the point. Josh Yeah, you were saying theres a tornado flipping cars on 7. Chuck Apparently, and I know my dog Buckleys at home just waiting to pee all over the place when the thunder starts. So if I can be there and hold him, hes fine. Josh The French Foreign Legion, Chuck Chuck They are a fighting force, a military fighting force that one young man by the name of Jean Claude Van Damme ran off and joined. Josh Did he really Chuck In the movies. Josh Oh, crap. Chuck I got you. Josh You totally got me. I was like I never knew. Chuck Can you imagine No, he was it was in the movies, he wasnt really a legionnaire. Josh What movie was that Chuck I think Legion. Josh Oh, is there a movie called Legion Chuck Or Legionnaire. Josh Huh, never heard of it. Chuck But yeah, hes a legionnaire. You can tell. Josh Im not a big fan of his, actually. Chuck You can tell well, you know, I dont know that there are that many big fans, but Ill bet his big fans are like big time Jean Claude Van Damme fans. Josh Oh, yes. Chuck Like Steven Seagal fans, probably. Josh Yeah, probably so. Chuck Just hardcore, you know. Josh Yeah. Chuck But you could tell that Jean Claude Van Damme was in this movie because hes wearing a hat with a little cape in the back. Josh Yeah, the kepi. Chuck Is that what its called Josh Yeah, its spelled K E P I, pronounced cape ee, and they still wear those, and its a tradition. Its still true today, the little flat cap, very stiff and rigid. Chuck Yep. Josh They dont always have the capes. When theyre out where they need them, they will. Chuck Well, the reason that they would have them is because for the better part of two centuries, the French Foreign Legion was stationed in Algeria. Josh Yeah. Chuck And the reason they were stationed there is because thats where their headquarters were almost from the moment of inception of this military group. Josh Yeah, and the reason they were stationed there from inception is because they were a bunch of neer do well criminals in many cases and so theyre like you know whatYou guys are great and youre super tough. Lets move you to Algeria to help our colonization efforts and get you out of France. Chuck Do you want to talk about the history, first Josh Yeah, well today, lets talk about today just for one sec. There are over there are 7,2. December of last year, 2. To the date to the date To this date, 3. Chuck I saw that, which is not that bad, but its a small group. Seven thousand isnt much. Josh Right, and they are the fighting force in the world that has seen more continuous action than any other. Chuck Oh, really Josh Yeah, they fight constantly. Theyve been fighting constantly. Chuck Well and theyre bad dudes. Josh Yeah. Chuck Like theyre they even say in this article and theyre well known to be much tougher than the regular French Army. Josh Right. Chuck Because theyre not French. Actually, I dont know how much that has to do with it, but theyre known for being tough dudes. Josh Yeah, and theyre also a Special Forces unit, basically. Chuck No women. When we say dudes, we can say dudes. Josh Yeah, theres never been a French Foreign Legionnaire whos a woman. Chuck No. Josh And they are theyve been in just about every conflict that the French have been in since 1. Chuck Yeah, I bet. Josh And, did you know that the French Foreign Legion invaded Mexico in 1. Chuck No, I didnt know that. Josh Yeah, they tried to assassinate the president and install an Austrian prince named Maximillian as the ruler of Mexico and set it up as a French puppet state. Chuck I wonder if that had any influence on, culinarily speaking Josh I dont know. I dont. Chuck French food, sauces with the. Josh You dont see much French stuff pop up in Mexico like you do in like Vietnam, during that colonial period, you know or Indosheen. Chuck Okay, so do you want to go to the historyShall we start out. Josh Yeah, how do these guys start Chuck Well, in 1. Josh, let me tell you a little story about a guy named King Louis Philippe. Its known as the July Revolution.