FReeper Canteen ~ Joseph R. Beyrle ~ 01 February 2016

Serving The Best Troops and Veterans In The World !! | StarCMC and The Canteen Crew

[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.

On June 6, 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! 

[PROCON]

I've been watching that owlcam off and on today. Momma hasn't gone anywhere, but of course she's nocturnal. I wonder what the gestation period is and also wonder if the camera light at night throws off her sleep pattern.

Maybe it's a night-vision camera?

[radu]

I’m watching now primarily to hear the frogs down at the pond. So relaxing.
No, there won’t be much activity until the eggs hatch. She leaves occasionally but only for a few minutes. Looking at the Twitter feed at the right of the video screen, I see the squirrels were messing with her again this afternoon. They pestered her a lot yesterday and I thought she was going to snag one for a snack. Lil critters were living dangerously. LOL!

Birds don’t see IR light so she isn’t bothered by it at all. But it sure enables us to see what’s going on during the night at the nest.
Owls are more active during the day than I thought they were. One of the surprises watching these owls last year.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Among the living today, but it has been a Mom issues day.

And my day started with a phone call from my credit union....suspicious charges. Yes they were...VISA card cancelled. Now lots of phone calls tomorrow for auto pay accounts. A day of rest would have been nice, but no such luck. Oh well...I can rest at work. LOL!!

[radu]

Gad you’re no longer a zombie. Sounds like you were kicked pretty hard.

Bummer the day hasn’t gone smoothly though. Mom issues are more than enough as it is but having to deal with that credit card mess didn’t help matters.

Tomorrow may well feel like a vacation after all this. LOL!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Luv...I don’t imagine he’s very happy. But, boy, was he determined escape wherever he was.

[Kathy in Alaska]

LOL! I can just imagine 2 little tuckered out folks.

[Kathy in Alaska]

The drier just quit on the last load of laundry...all my bed stuff, including blankie and quilt. Warm and fluffy and germ free.

Just fed Mom and I need to think about something more than crackers.

[radu]

Oh, forgot in the other post .... the gestation period is 30 to 35 days. We should have lil owlets at the end of Feb.
The real fun begins when they’re a couple of weeks old. That’s when they get really active and their personalities start showing.

[radu]

YAY for clean fluffy bed stuff.
Now something more substantial than crackers would be good if you’re ready. You need to get your strength back.

[PROCON]

Mine?

[radu]

WOOHOO, PRO! Yours!

Darn it. Got distracted.

[PROCON]

Well now, I just knew luuvy might be lurking out there so I went for it, heh-heh.

It is interesting watching the owl tend to her nest.

So it's IR light...interesting.

[radu]

LOL! I’m surprised she wasn’t. Guess she’s busy having a grand time playing games with her granddaughter.

I was flipping through other nest cams checking to see what’s going on and didn’t notice that 50 was up for grabs.

Since birds can’t see IR, folks who set up the cams for day AND night viewing know they can use it and not disturb the birds. One of the many things I’ve picked up from watching the cams Cornell is involved with. Their ornithology people post all kinds of neat info and it adds to the experience. It’s been a blast watching and learning the past few years.

[luvie]

He was very set on being free! Good for him!

[PROCON]

Well of course the most important question regarding owls is:

"Do they taste like chicken?"

:-)

[luvie]

LOL! I did get busy. Hard to concentrate on Much of anything when there are two little girl giggling and squealing. :)

[PROCON]

It sounds like you're having a blast with the little ones, too cool.

How long you staying in OK?

[radu]

Momma can NOT believe you just said that!

[radu]

Two little girlies giggling and squealing are probably more distracting than our cat herd. LOL! Sounds like you’re having a great time with them.

[PROCON]

LOL, well, OF COURSE I meant "Sheesh, those squirrels sure were CHICKEN?"

Yup, wouldn't want to mess with Momma!