leaving on SS Rochambeau, Genet wrote letters to several of his friends and family that he did not expect to survive this conflict. On January 14, 1915, he wrote to his mother: I never expect to come back—death seems nearer to me than any possible chances of going through the horrible ghastly conflict which is carousing over Europe without meeting death. I do not fear when I think of it, Mother. I can give my life just as freely for the Tricolor as I can for Old Glory. — January 14, 1915. World War 1 French Foreign Legion Genet arrived in Le Havre, France on 29 January. He joined the French Foreign Legion and was sent for training in Lyon, where he became friends with Norman Prince. After months of lobbying, Prince was able to convince the French military to create the Lafayette Escadrille, a squadron of flyers that mostly consisted of Americans, with some French officers. Genet joined a year after its formation. Much to his happiness – as he had trouble with speaking French – he found several fellow Americans within the legion. He quickly became friends with Dr. David E. Wheeler, who had arrived earlier in the winter, becoming a Red Cross volunteer. He decided to join the Legion around the same time as Genet. The two served together until Wheeler was wounded in September 1915. After six weeks of training, Genet was sent to the front in eastern France. Genet spent the next few months in the trenches seeing some action but nothing compared to what he would experience in late September. The Second Battle of Champagne started on September 25 and was the bloodiest battle of the war for the Legion. On 28 September, Genet's battalion attacked, losing their senior officers within moments of the attack. Genet found himself at front of the attack with only one other legionary. Realizing that the advance had been stopped, they decided to retreat back to their trench. The other legionary was wounded or possibly killed on the way back. Genet was one of the 31 men out of 500 who survived the battle unscathed. The battle saw French casualties near 190,000 in just three weeks of fighting. Later, Genet was back fighting in the Bois Sabot; the rest of the company took shelter during an artillery barrage. A unit of Senegalese Tirailleurs took up the charge and Genet