Saving Bambi's Ass

I've seen this photo/story/meme out there for many years and it's a logical, cute story and there are few people that actually know the real story which, in my opinion, is better than the meme, but it isn't shared like the meme is:

The picture actually dates from 1958, during the Algerian War (i.e., a war for independence waged against French forces in Colonial Algeria). And it depicts a starving donkey that was rescued by a member of the French Foreign Legion who carried it back to his base, where the animal was nursed back to health, given the name “Bambi,” and adopted as a unit mascot, as described by author Douglas Porch in his 1991 history of the Legion:
Nineteen fifty-eight proved a very successful year for the Legion in another respect, it was awarded a Certificate of Merit for Distinguished Service by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and a similar recognition from the RSPCA in London, after a legionnaire of the 13e DBLE [13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion] rescued a starving donkey and returned it to his base where, renamed Bambi, it served the unit as a mascot. Interest was pricked among the “Anglo-Saxons” after London’s Daily Mail carried a photo of the donkey being carried on the back of a legionnaire. Attempts to award the Certificate of Merit to the generous legionnaire foundered upon [his maintaining anonymity]. However, the Chief Secretary of the RSPCA was informed by the Legion that numerous mascots follow each unit in its movements. In certain [units], the number of animals is greater than the strength in manpower.” Especially gratifying was the knowledge that Bambi “at the present time is enjoying an enviable destiny and that he is sharing the life of our legionnaires and even … their beer.”