"Jupp" .... an underage Legionnaire in Indochina...

[Chris Boonzaier]

Josef “Jupp” Klütsch was born on the 23rd of November 1929 in Bergheim, Germany. He joined the Foreign Legion at the age of 17 and a half in July 1947, claiming to be 19 and have been born in June 1927.
Exact dates are not known but he seems to have been one of the first legionnaires to have been posted to the newly formed 5e Regiment Etranger d’infanterie in November 1949. He received his Medaille Coloniale with the bar “extreme-Orient” in February 1950.
In January 1951 he received the Croix de Guerre TOE with a Bronze star for being an excellent combatant and his actions as point man in a patrol near the village of Ban Dac on the 3 October 1950.
He was released from the Legion on the 11th of July 1952.
In 1995 he received the titre de reconnaissance de la nation and in 2009 he was decorated with the Medaille Militaire.

During his time of Service “Jupp” Klütsch wore the Croix de Guerre TOE and the Medaille Colonial.
Over a year after he left the Indochina Campaign commemorative medal was introduced, he did not receive this at the time and bought one many years later. On the first medal bar he also wore the Croix de combatant, to which he was entitled. The bar also has the Medaille “engage volontaire” which has no official standing and was not allowed to be worn on the uniform. It is not uncommon to see it on medal bars of German veterans. He also has the unofficial medal of the reconnaissance de la nation with was available commercially. Once again an award which was not allowed to be worn while in uniform. The official Medaille de reconnaissance de la nation was introduced in 2002, he has a seperate ine which was not mounted on his bar.
The last bar has his Medaille Militaire, TOE, Croix de Combattant, Medaille Colonial, Medaille Indochine … and once again the Medaille “Engage Volontaire”! .. unfortunately he did not mount the Reconnaissance de la nation on his bar.
“Jupp” Klütsch was a long time member of the AALE in Cologne and passed away in 2015.