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

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[Kathy in Alaska]

 

Our Troops Rock!  Thank you for all you do!

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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! 

[E.G.C.]

A very pleasant good Monday morning and ((HUGS)) to everyone at the Canteen and to all our military at home and abroad. Thanks for your service to our country.

How's everyone doing this morning?

[radu]

Howdy, E.G.C. ((HUGZ))

Was it a brisk day over there for your outing with Gizmo? The front moved through here late this afternoon and it’s right chilly already. The wind has a bite.

[mylife]

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

[mylife]

RIP tonguetied, Ukranian bombers buddy.

[MoochPooch]

Evening, Kathy! Thanks for another great bio.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Oh no....only a couple drops of rain, enough to make a mess.

I did get ALL my errands fun. I got duck food that should last til late December. Everywhere I needed to go was plowed...nice! And no stupid drivers anywhere near me....thank goodness.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening/morning, Mooch...glad you enjoyed. Any snow yet?

5” last night...it’s warmed up to 20 degrees. Happy almost Thanksgiving.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, luvie...he was not very happy in that picture, but boy, was he a fighter!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Looks very interesting. And we thank you for your service as a submariner!

[E.G.C.]

Well, it's a little bit cool this morning that's for sure. I did get some headshots yesterday of Gizmo. I had to make him earn his treats by posing and staying still while I got my iPhone ready. Here are the results:

He also found a few smelly spots to roll over.

And, yes we did hang out at the pier also.

We had a problem trying to get our Sonic Drive Inn order for a time yesterday.

App was not working (Not sure where the problem was) but after an hour or so we did finally get the order through and Gizmo and I enjoyed our Sonic Drive Inn supper.

Sometimes those apps are a little funky.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Being a POW did NOT make him very happy/friendly.

[radu]

They’d said we wouldn’t get much rain with this front so we’re lucky we got what we did. The front coming through Wed. is supposed to give us more.

Sounds like you had a banner day, except for needing to shovel the deck. They were on the ball getting the streets cleared so quickly. Luck was on your side all ‘round.

[Kathy in Alaska]

“Dad...I don’t want to pose today.” LOL!

Good morning, E...((HUGS))...stay warm, but you and Gizmo enjoy your time out today.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Yes is was....I was really surprised to see so much snow.

[radu]

LOL! Gizmo didn’t look very happy about having to stay still for his photo shoot. He looked MUCH happier rolling in the smelly spot. :-)

It sounds like it would have been a lot easier and quicker to just order your Sonic dinner at the drive-up. Or are they not allowed to do that there? We don’t have the restrictions here that many places have.

[radu]

I’ll bet you were! I was surprised to see it on the cam. They’d said a little snow was expected in the near future but I didn’t know they meant THAT soon. LOL

[E.G.C.]

((LOL))Well, we don't have restrictions ether but given this ongoing pandemic what I have been strongly encouraging people (Especially the over 60 crowd) to do is download the Sonic App so they won't have to wait for their supper. It will already be ready by the time they arrive.

Hopefully by Wednesday which is our next Sonic Drive Inn Day it will have been fixed and we will have our supper.

Now, some people over 60 may just choose to go ahead and go to Sonic and order supper there if they choose. I just simply recommend they app for those who don't feel comfortable waiting 10-15 minutes due to this ongoing pandemic.

[radu]

At Sonic, you wait in your car. It’s different than being inside a crowded building. I’m well over 60 and don’t have a problem with it. But to each his own and that’s as it should be. :-)

At least you got your goodies and that’s what counts.

[radu]

I guess you’ll be surprised again when you wake up, and the plow guys will be busy. It’s snowing again and coming down at a good clip. SOOOOOOO glad it’s there and not here. LOL

[mylife]

Thank you for telling this mans tale, I am rather stunned that even after 75 years this much detail is revealed of his covert activities, hat to to old china hand, he had odd bed fellows too.