PK0 of Legionary Solidarity
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Is the Captain Danjou estate in Puyloubier legitimate?

By Christian Morisot *
Every man is unique, irreplaceable. Each knows something that no other knows and can, therefore, offer others the fruit of their own unique experience.

It is because each of us is inimitable, while sharing the same human condition, that each needs everyone and everyone needs each other. Perhaps this is the true nature of brotherhood: the need for others.

If this brotherhood did not exist, no one would truly need anyone, since we could only do for others what we are capable of doing for ourselves. There would then be neither help nor assistance, but only an eternal replacement.

Fortunately, for us legionnaires, history offers us another truth, firmly established: that of solidarity.

Let us go back to 1954, the day after the defeat at Dien Bien Phu, which marked the end of the Indochina War. The Legion's terrible human toll—307 officers, 1,082 non-commissioned officers, and 9,092 legionnaires dead, in addition to the many wounded and disabled—deeply affected the nation.

That same year, the French army acquired a vast estate to establish an institution for legionnaires: the so-called "General's Estate," in Puyloubier, at the foot of Mont Sainte-Victoire.

The ambition was clearly stated: to allow retired legionnaires "to be at home, among themselves, and not among others." Puyloubier thus naturally became a sanctuary and, over time, the new focal point of legionnaire solidarity.

This haven of tranquility, nestled on some 220 hectares, including around forty vineyards today, is also a shining expression of France's gratitude to the Foreign Legion, which has given so much.

By generously and graciously welcoming wounded and veterans of "all wars," Puyloubier embodies the oft-used expression: the Legion family. Here, it is not an empty phrase. It becomes a reality.

It is precisely this notion of Legion family and solidarity that also appears in the statutes of the Amicale du Pays d’Aix et de la Sainte-Baume (Association of Veterans of the Aix and Sainte-Baume Region). For this association, solidarity is its primary mission. No deviation, no dispute over precedence should therefore be able to distract from what remains essential: to nurture this solidarity and pass it on.

And yet, as is often the case, controversy erupted as soon as the Puyloubier Association announced its initiative around the "PK 0 of Legionnaire Solidarity."

And then came the claims of paternity.

It was pointed out that the Legionnaire's Home in Auriol was established in 1934, while the Foreign Legion Invalids' Institution in Puyloubier dates back to 1954. Big deal!

Comparing the two institutions solely on the basis of their founding dates is like comparing apples and oranges.

The Legionnaire's Home was originally an institution governed by the 1901 law, therefore a private entity, in which residents contributed to the costs of their stay, while also benefiting from the support of various institutions and donations.

At Puyloubier, the approach was different: the residents were housed in an institution directly under the military organization and placed under the supervision of the Foreign Legion's Medical and Social Service. The staff were paid by the state, and the residents' living expenses were not charged to them.

Two histories, two statuses, two vocations that nevertheless converged on the same idea: not to abandon our own.

And that is the crux of the matter.

For, long before Auriol, as before Puyloubier, other "ground zeros" of Legionnaire solidarity already existed.

Solidarity never waited until 1954. First and foremost, we must mention the very first Parisian association, "La Légion," presided over by Maurer.

Now known as the Paris Foreign Legion Veterans Association (AALEP), it was founded on June 25, 1898, and officially registered in 1902 by Sergeant Jacques-Émile Maurer.

It was one of the first—and remains the oldest, according to its history—mutual aid and solidarity associations for former legionnaires facing the challenges of civilian life in Paris.

It served as a model and contributed to the growth of gatherings of former legionnaires and veterans at the beginning of the 20th century. And it still exists today.

In 1908, the French Society for the Relief of Wounded Soldiers, in partnership with "La Légion," established "Bastion 84," located at 84-86 Boulevard Kellermann in Paris. The facility was intended, in particular, to provide assistance to colonial soldiers and legionnaires.

There was also the accommodation center in Salé, at Morocco; in 1930, the Mutual Aid Center for Disabled and Released Members of the Foreign Legion, in Marseille, near Fort Saint-Jean; in La Balme-les-Grottes, Isère, the Château de Serves housed the MILE, the Foreign Legion's Home for Invalids.

And there were others.

When General Rollet compiled the commemorative book for the Foreign Legion's centenary, he made no mention of solidarity, claiming that it was the responsibility of the veterans' associations.

So, where is the true zero point?

The answer is perhaps much simpler than one might think.

There is no single zero point of Legionary solidarity. There is a succession of zero points, wherever one Legionnaire has reached out to another.

Can Puyloubier nevertheless claim PK 0? Yes.

And today, it is perfectly legitimate.

This isn't to suggest that Legionnaire solidarity was born in 1954. It existed long before. It's about recognizing that with the creation of the Foreign Legion Veterans' Institution, Puyloubier became a major, lasting, and emblematic embodiment of this solidarity.

Since its creation, the Foreign Legion Veterans' Institution has therefore deserved to be considered one of the beating hearts of Legionnaire solidarity and can perfectly well claim the symbol of "PK 0."

This doesn't take anything away from anyone.

And especially not from the Legionnaire's House in Auriol.

Because it has now entered a new phase. Now managed by the SM (Military Service). FELE, staffed by active-duty personnel, can in many ways be compared to the spirit that governs the Foreign Legion's Invalids' Institution.

Although historically younger, it remains a shining example of Legionnaire mutual aid and solidarity.

So why insist on dividing up merits?
Why seek a single father for a solidarity born from thousands of acts of dedication and loyalty?

The Legion doesn't need a single birth certificate to justify its brotherhood.

It has a history.

It has places.

It has men.

It has institutions.

And above all, it has this unwritten rule: never abandon one of our own.

So, let's allow Puyloubier the symbolic primacy of claiming to be the "PK 0 of Legionary solidarity," and let Auriol have the merit of having, for nearly a century, written its own chapter in this same solidarity.

And above all, let's stop arguing over who did it.

Because when we argue about who did it, we overstep the mark, and therefore, for Legionary solidarity, there should be no limits.

In Puyloubier, moreover, the ceramics workshop will always be able to produce, without limit, kilometer markers stamped with the number 0.

* CBA (ret.) C. Morisot is perfectly familiar with the nature of these two institutions, having been director of the IILE in Puyloubier, then director of the Legionary House in Auriol.