Thanks, Joe.
Joseph "Jumpin' Joe" Beyrle, the only World War II soldier to fight for both the Americans and the Soviets, died on Sunday a hero for two nations. He was 81.
The wartime feats of Beyrle, a member of the 101st Airborne's "Screamin' Eagles," still seem improbable.
After parachuting into Normandy on D-Day in June 1944, he was captured by the Germans. Battered and starved, Beyrle escaped from a Nazi prison camp and found Soviet troops advancing toward Berlin. He joined their ranks and fought for weeks, then was injured and taken to Moscow, from whence he eventually made his way home to Muskegon, Mich.
He wore a vest filled with American medals on one side and Russian on the other. Beyrle attributed his fate to a higher being.
The wartime feats of Beyrle, a member of the 101st Airborne's "Screamin' Eagles," still seem improbable.
After parachuting into Normandy on D-Day in June 1944, he was captured by the Germans. Battered and starved, Beyrle escaped from a Nazi prison camp and found Soviet troops advancing toward Berlin. He joined their ranks and fought for weeks, then was injured and taken to Moscow, from whence he eventually made his way home to Muskegon, Mich.
He wore a vest filled with American medals on one side and Russian on the other. Beyrle attributed his fate to a higher being.
posted by Max at 11:00 AM
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