He felt that he could best fight his strong feelings of depression by being wet, cold and hungry. He thought the best way to do this was to join the French Foreign Legion.
He used the fictitious name of Christopher Flaherty to join the Legion. Once he joined, he was sent to the Central African Republic and Djibouti. He also worked as a personal security guard for General Laurent Kolodziej, who is the head of French forces fighting against al-Qaeda in Mali.
When Franks was facing the military court as a deserter, the General spoke on his behalf via video-link. He said that he "would like to have 10 men like that in my team."
After Franks had finished his five-year term, he surrendered to the Army in Germany. At his trial, he was sentenced to four years in prison.
Franks had gone through West Point as an officer candidate, and finished in the top 12 percent of the graduates. It was after this time that he began experiencing depression. His unit was not due to go to the Middle East for another year.
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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-soldier-jailed-joining-french-foreign-legion-210932060.html
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Graphics: Mine
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Keywords: Lawrence Franks, abandoned, Army, deserter, Fort Drum, prison, Foreign Legion