Editing Jean-Bédel Bokassa (section)

==Military career==
[[File:Bokassa 1939.jpg|thumb|Jean-Bedel Bokassa while serving in the Foreign Legion in 1939]]
While serving in the Second ''bataillon de marche'', Bokassa became a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporal corporal] in July 1940 and a sergeant major in November 1941.<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"> </span>After the occupation of France by [[Nazi Germany]], Bokassa served with an African unit of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_French_Forces Free French Forces] and took part in the capture of [[Vichy France]]'s capital at Brazzaville. On 15 August 1944, he participated in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allies_of_World_War_II Allied Forces]’ landing in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provence Provence], France, in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Dragoon Operation Dragoon] and fought in southern France and in Germany in early 1945 before Nazi Germany was toppled. He remained in the French Army after the war, studying [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmission_%28telecommunications%29 radio transmissions] at an army camp in the French coastal town of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fr%C3%A9jus Fréjus].<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"> </span>Afterwards, he attended [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Officer_training officer training] school in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Louis,_Senegal Saint-Louis, Senegal]. On 7 September 1950, Bokassa headed to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indochina Indochina] as the transmissions expert for the battalion of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholon,_Ho_Chi_Minh_City Saigon-Cholon]. Bokassa saw some combat during the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Indochina_War First Indochina War] before his [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_of_duty tour of duty] ended in March 1953. For his exploits in battle, he was honored with membership of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9gion_d%27honneur Légion d'honneur], and was decorated with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croix_de_guerre_des_th%C3%A9%C3%A2tres_d%27op%C3%A9rations_ext%C3%A9rieures Croix de guerre]. During his stay in Indochina, he married a 17-year-old Vietnamese girl named Nguyen Thi Hué. After Hué bore him a daughter, Bokassa had the child registered as a French [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationality national]. Bokassa left Indochina without his wife and child, as he believed he would return for another tour of duty in the near future.<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"> </span>Upon his return to France, Bokassa was stationed at Fréjus, where he taught radio transmissions to African recruits. In 1956, he was promoted to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Lieutenant Second Lieutenant] and two years later to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lieutenant Lieutenant].<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"> </span>Bokassa was then stationed as a military technical assistant in December 1958 in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazzaville Brazzaville], and in 1959 after a twenty year absence he was posted back to his homeland in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangui Bangui]. He was promoted to the rank of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_%28OF-2%29 Captain] on 1 July 1961.

The French colony of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oubangui-Chari Ubangi-Chari] (Oubangui-Chari in French), part of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Equatorial_Africa French Equatorial Africa], had become a semi-autonomous territory of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Community French Community] in 1958 and then an independent nation as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_African_Republic Central African Republic] on 13 August 1960.

On 1 January 1962, Bokassa left the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Army French Army] and joined the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_the_Central_African_Republic military forces of the CAR] with the rank of battalion commandant. As a cousin of the CAR President [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Dacko David Dacko] and nephew of Dacko's predecessor [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barth%C3%A9l%C3%A9my_Boganda Barthélémy Boganda], Bokassa was given the task of creating the new country's military. Over a year later, Bokassa became [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commander-in-chief commander-in-chief] of the 500 soldiers in the Central African Army. Due to his relationship to Dacko and experience abroad in the French military, Bokassa was able to quickly rise through the ranks of the new national army, becoming the Central African Army's first colonel on 1 December 1964.

Bokassa sought recognition for his status as leader of the army. He frequently appeared in public wearing all his military decorations, and in ceremonies, he often sat next to President Dacko to display his importance in the government. Bokassa frequently got into heated arguments with Jean-Paul Douate, the government's chief of protocol, who admonished him for not following the correct order of seating at presidential tables. At first, Dacko found his cousin's antics amusing.<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"> </span>Despite the number of recent military coups in Africa, Dacko publicly dismissed the likelihood that Bokassa would try to take control of the country. At an official dinner, he said, "Colonel Bokassa only wants to collect medals and he is too stupid to pull off a coup d'état".<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"> </span>Other members of Dacko's cabinet believed that Bokassa was a genuine threat to the regime. Jean-Arthur Bandio, the minister of interior, suggested Dacko name Bokassa to the Cabinet, which he hoped would both break the colonel's close connections with the CAR army and satisfy the colonel's desire for recognition. To combat the chance that Bokassa would stage a coup, Dacko created the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gendarmerie gendarmerie], an armed police force of 500 and a 120-member presidential security guard, led by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Izamo Jean Izamo] and Prosper Mounoumbaye, respectively.