FReeper Canteen ~ Hall of Heroes: Joseph R Beyrle ~ 23 November 2020

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[Kathy in Alaska]

 

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~ Hall of Heroes ~

Joseph R. Beyrle

Info from here and here.

           

Joseph R. Beyrle (August 25, 1923 - December 12, 2004) is thought to be the only American soldier to have served with both the United States Army and the Soviet Army in World War II. Born in Muskegon, Michigan, Beyrle graduated from high school in 1942 with the promise of a scholarship to the University of Notre Dame, but enlisted in the army instead. Upon his enlistment, Beyrle chose to become a paratrooper, joining the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne's "Screaming Eagles" division, specializing in radio communications and demolition, and was first stationed in Ramsbury, England to prepare for the upcoming Allied invasion from the west. After nine months of training, Beyrle completed two missions in occupied France in April and May 1944, delivering gold to the French Resistance. D-Day, Beyrle's C-47 came under enemy fire over the Normandy coast, and he was forced to jump from the exceedingly low altitude of 120 meters. After landing in Saint-Come-du-Mont, Sergeant Beyrle lost contact with his fellow paratroopers, but succeeded in blowing up a power station. He performed other sabotage missions before being captured by German soldiers a few days later. Over the next seven months, Beyrle was held in seven different German prisons. He escaped twice, only to be recaptured each time. Beyrle and his fellow prisoners had been hoping to find the Soviet army, which was a short distance away. After the second escape (in which he and his companions set out for Poland but boarded a train to Berlin by mistake), Beyrle was turned over to the Gestapo by a German civilian. Beaten and tortured, he was released to the German military after officials stepped in and determined that the Gestapo had no jurisdiction over prisoners of war. The Gestapo were about to shoot Beyrle and his comrades, claiming that he was an American spy who had parachuted into Berlin.

Beyrle was taken to the Stalag III-C POW camp in Alt Drewitz, from which he escaped in early January 1945. He headed east, hoping to meet up with the Soviet army. Encountering a Soviet tank brigade in the middle of January, he raised his hands, holding a pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes, and shouted in Russian, 'Amerikansky' tovarishch! ("American comrade!"). Beyrle was eventually able to persuade the battalion's commanders to allow him to fight alongside the unit on its way to Berlin, thus beginning his month-long stint in a Soviet tank battalion, where his demolitions expertise was appreciated.

Beyrle's new battalion was the one that freed his former camp, Stalag III-C, at the end of January, but in the first week of February, he was wounded during an attack by German Stuka dive bombers. He was evacuated to a Soviet hospital in Landsberg (now Gorzow Wielkopolski in Poland), where he received a visit from Soviet Marshal Georgy Zhukov, who, intrigued by the only non-Russian in the hospital, learned his story through an interpreter, and provided Beyrle with official papers in order to rejoin American forces.

Joining a Soviet military convoy, Beyrle arrived at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow in February 1945, only to learn that he had been reported by the War Department as KIA on June 10, 1944 on French soil. A funeral mass had been held in his honor in Muskegon, and his obituary was published in the local newspaper. Embassy officers in Moscow, unsure of his bona fides, placed him under Marine guard in the Metropol Hotel until his identity was established through his fingerprints.

Beyrle returned home to Michigan on April 21, 1945, and celebrated V-E Day two weeks later in Chicago. He was married to JoAnne Hollowell in 1946—coincidentally, in the same church and by the same priest who held his funeral mass two years earlier.  Beyrle worked for Brunswick Corporation for 28 years, retiring as a shipping supervisor.

His unique service earned him medals from U.S. President Bill Clinton and President Boris Yeltsin of Russia at a ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House marking the 50th anniversary of D-Day in 1994.

Beyrle died in his sleep of heart failure on December 12, 2004 during a visit to Toccoa, Georgia, where he had trained with the paratroops in 1942. He was 81. He was buried with honors in Section 1 of Arlington National Cemetery in April, 2005.

His son, John Beyrle, was appointed the United States Ambassador to Russia in July 2008.

On September 17, 2002, a book by Thomas Taylor about Beyrle, The Simple Sounds of Freedom, was published by Random House. A Ballantine paperback version, Behind Hitler's Lines, came out June 1, 2004.

In August 2005, a plaque was unveiled on the wall of the church in St. Côme-du-Mont, France, where Beyrle landed on June 6, 1944.

An exhibition devoted to Joe Beyrle's life and wartime experiences opened at the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg in February, 2010 and at the Museum of Great Patriotic War on Poklonnaya Gora in Moscow on May 6, 2010.

Please remember the Canteen is here to honor, support and entertain our troops and their families.  This is a politics-free zone!  Thanks for helping us in our mission! 

[The Mayor]

Freep mail me to be on or off the Daily Bread ping list

November 22

An Open, Generous Heart

Bible in a Year:

• Ezekiel 18–19
• James 4

Be generous and willing to share.

1 Timothy 6:18

After Vicki’s old car broke down with no option for repair, she started scraping together money for another vehicle. Chris, a frequent customer of the restaurant where Vicki works at the drive-thru window, one day heard her mention she needed a car. “I couldn’t stop thinking about it,” Chris said. “I [had] to do something.” So he bought his son’s used car (his son had just put it up for sale), shined it up, and handed Vicki the keys. Vicki was shocked. “Who . . . does that?” she said in amazement and gratitude.

The Scriptures call us to live with open hands, giving freely as we can—providing what’s truly best for those in need. As Paul says: “Command [those who are rich] to do good, to be rich in good deeds” (1 Timothy 6:18). We don’t merely perform a benevolent act here or there, but rather live out a cheerful spirit of giving. Big-heartedness is our normal way of life. “Be generous and willing to share,” we’re told (v. 18).

As we live with an open, generous heart, we don’t need to fear running out of what we need. Rather, the Bible tells us that in our compassionate generosity, we’re taking “hold of [true] life” (v. 19). With God, genuine living means loosening our grip on what we have and giving to others freely. Reflect & Pray

When do you struggle the most with being generous? How does God’s generous heart encourage you to give more freely?

I want to hold what I have loosely, God. I want to be generous, like You. Transform my heart and help me to give freely.

[left that other site]

Hi Everybody!

(((HUGS)))

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Mayor, and thank you for today’s sustenance for body and soul.

All rested and ready to take on the new week?

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, ML...((HUGS))...still enjoying fall?

We had almost 5” of snow overnight. My deck was cleared when I went to bed and I awoke to almost 5” of fluffy, light snow. The deck is clear again.

[left that other site]

Luckily, my deck has a roof over it!

Windy snow, however, does drift onto it occasionally.

[Kathy in Alaska]

~ Hall of Heroes: Joseph R Beyrle ~

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[PROCON]

Thanks for honoring tonight’s Hero, Kathy, a real interesting man and his accomplishments.

[radu]

Greetings to all at the Canteen!

To all our military men and women, past and present,

Well now, that's an interesting life-story to read about!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Hello Veterans, wherever you are!!

[radu]

Howdy, Kathy.

Looks like y’all got more snow overnight. Came down pretty hard and heavy for a while.

We got a couple drops of rain this afternoon but not nearly enough to do any good. It was enough to “dot” the dust on the cars.

[luvie]

What a hero! He looked like one tough dude!
A salute to him and his bravery!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Pro....”interesting” for sure. He never gave up, or in.

[radu]

Howdy, PRO.

Did you get the yardwork finished this weekend?

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, radu...he certainly had some different life experiences, but was for sure a hero in his military “job”.

We got SNOW overnight...almost 5” and very light and fluffy. All shoveled off the deck and my plow guy has been here.

Did you get any drops of rain?

[radu]

Hey there, Kathy.

That’s quite a dumping of snow y’all got. I was surprised to see it when I pulled up the Lake Hood cam this afternoon. I went back in the stream and saw those big fluffy flakes coming down. I guess the runway-clearing crews were busy keeping the runways cleared so planes could land. It was another busy day out there. If Dot and her daughter didn’t go out to the observation parking lot this weekend, they missed a good show. LOL

At least this snow was light and fluffy so it wasn’t as hard to shovel off your deck.

We got a whoppin’ .1 of an inch of rain this afternoon. I didn’t think we got that much. Better than nothing. They SAY we’ll get a better dose Wed. when another cold front comes through.

[mylife]

sometimes I get so tired of keeping secrets, my own family does not understand me, they think I am full of crap, and I feed them nothing.
I am an old man now and singing..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-8h-eGVShA

https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Mans-Bluff-Submarine-Espionage/dp/1664630473/ref=asc_df_1664630473/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=475818739651&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17343847525548007186&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9015474&hvtargid=pla-1083110115037&psc=1

[mylife]

Beyrel looks pissed

[mylife]

Not nearly as good as the book or being there

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ0X8ROMSUw

Damn Berryl looks pissed

[mylife]

this is close to the thousand yard stare, but he tipped his hand