Jumpin' Joe Beyrle

May 9, 2017 11:48 AM

Joseph Beyrle was the only American soldier to serve with both the US Army and the Red Army in WWII. The story in his own words. Arlington National Cemetery page with more details.

His highlights include:

• Jumping into occupied France with gold for the Resistance.
• Escaping three times from German POW camps.
• Fighting in the command of Alexandra Samusenko, the only female Russian tank commander in the war.
• With the Red Army, liberating the same German prison camp he had escaped from.
• Getting married by the same priest in the same church that held his funeral two years earlier.

Byrle died on Dec 12, 2004 in Toccoa, Georgia, the place where he had trained to be a paratrooper, having just given a speech about his life to school and veterans groups.

His son John Beyrle was the US Ambassador to Russia from 2008-2012.

posted by Clinging to the Wreckage (8 comments total)

I know it's right there in the first link but please be sure to catch his POW photo because it's pretty awesome.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 11:51 AM on May 9, 2017 [2 favorites]

Great post. Beyrle was the man. He jumped with the entire 101st and 82nd into Normandy on D-night. He was part of I Company of the 506. E Company is who Band of Brothers was about. Read all the links. When offered safe passage by the Russian troops, he refused and instead offered to fight beside them to fight the Nazis. He did. He even was asked to fly into Vietnam during that war to deliver a specific message to a Vietnamese officer. This was years after he was honorably discharged. A true American hero.
posted by AugustWest at 1:07 PM on May 9, 2017

My funeral Mass was held at St. Joseph's Church in Muskegon by Father Stratz on Spetember 17, 1944. My wife and I were married in the same church on September 14, 1946, by Father Stratz.
posted by mark k at 4:29 PM on May 9, 2017 [2 favorites]

... the designer of the AK-47 assault rifle, Lt. Gen. Mikhail Kalashnikov, presented a rifle to Mr. Beyrle in a ceremony at a Moscow Victory Day celebration.

I would guess this is something not a lot of Americans could mention in their resumes. Very interesting post, thanks.
posted by LeLiLo at 7:37 PM on May 9, 2017

Because I'm a vindictive bastard who has no patience for WWII German soldiers who steal an American soldier's dog tags and an American uniform, can we please track down that German rat bastard who violated many "laws" of war and get him ejected from the American cemetery he was, presumably, mistakenly buried in?

Sorry, but I lost a relative in the battle of the bulge (my mother's cousin), and my father had to spend three years of his life in the south Pacific because of the shenanigans of the Japanese military.

Why, yes, I can hold a grudge for quite a while.
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 11:12 PM on May 9, 2017

I wrote an article about him for America in World War II magazine a few years ago. For those who are interested, you can find it here. It's quite a story, one that would make an interesting movie, if you ask me.
posted by Man-Thing at 8:03 AM on May 10, 2017 [1 favorite]

When I read through the story I was thinking it sounded like a great movie but every few minutes I thought it would seem less believable. There is just so much coincidence, luck, skill, and bravery involved. It seems like a 'based on true events' movie that's either greatly embellished or several people's stories melded together into one person for the film. That's a really nice article Man-Thing, and one I didn't see when I searched for things about Beyrle.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 9:01 AM on May 10, 2017

Wow. This is amazing. Thank you so much for sharing.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 10:54 PM on May 10, 2017