Appel

"In Appel, Joel Struthers has illustrated a soldier's life on and off duty through his vast experience in diverse training activities and operations. Those with a military background will find this a fascinating story, laced with humour, and told through the eyes of a professional soldier in a renowned military organization, the French Foreign Legion. Those who have not experienced military life will be equally fascinated with a soldier's insights into the dangerous and demanding profession of arms." -- LGen (Retired) RR Crabbe, CMM, MSC, MSM, CD, B Sc
"Travelling through these pages, you will discover how a restless young Canadian turned himself into a professional soldier, and then a pathfinder immersed in a system that, even if could always be improved, remains a reference in terms of soldiering. You will appreciate the quasi-monastic life--made of satisfaction, celebration, hard training, operational commitments, but also of routine and service--of these soldiers who decided to leave everything they had to come and serve in the Legion. And finally you will discover from the inside this esprit de corps that empowers the Corps and helps these hommes sans noms to cope with the tensions of their new lives." -- Col. Benoit Desmeulles, commanding officer, 2e Regiment etranger de parachutistes (2012-14) -- from the Foreword
For readers wanting to learn about the reality of soldiering in the contemporary French Foreign Legion, unemcumbered by the myth and conceit which characterize so many of the past descriptions of 'la Legion', this is the book for you. -- Michael Boire -- Canadian Military Journal 19, No. 2 (Spring 2019)