After Attacks, French Flock to Join the Army

Injured survivors stretchered in to memorial service
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 27, 2015 11:27 AM CST
After Attacks, French Flock to Join the Army
Guests, right, listen as French President Francois Hollande, center, delivers his speech during a ceremony in the courtyard of the Invalides in Paris, Friday, Nov. 27, 2015.    (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Among ordinary French people, the response to the Paris terror attacks has been remarkably similar to the US response to 9/11. The number of people applying to join the French military has quintupled, with people of all ages descending on recruitment offices, the New York Times reports. "I've never seen anything like it,” a French Army recruitment spokesman tells the Times. "People are coming in and contacting us in droves through social media, using words like liberty, defense, and the fight against terror." Flag sales have also soared, and the tricolor was widely displayed during a Friday memorial service in what the AP calls an "uncharacteristic display of patriotism."

After the names of all 130 victims were read out at the Paris memorial service, President Francois Hollande vowed that France will do all it can to protect its children and destroy the ISIS "army of fanatics," the BBC reports. He promised that, after the attacks that targeted a concert hall and the national stadium—where he was among the crowd at a soccer game—France will respond with more music and more sporting events. The Guardian reports that the ceremony at the historic Les Invalides complex was attended by more than 2,000 people, with injured survivors, some in wheelchairs or on stretchers, at the front. (France has agreed to tighten cooperation with Russia against ISIS.)

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