Hero #5 Joseph Beyrle

Joseph Beyrle might say he didn't do anything more than anyone else would have done in his circumstances, but his circumstances were pretty extraordinary.

Joseph Beyrle had the distinction of being the only World War II soldier to fight for both the U.S. and the Soviet Union. After graduating high school in 1942, Joseph Beyrle turned down a scholarship at Notre Dame in order to enlist in the army. As a paratrooper, he was captured in France shortly after D-Day (when he blew up a power station) and was taken to a POW camp in eastern Germany.

He attempted to escape twice and failed. In January 1945 he tried a third time, and succeeded in finding a Russian tank brigade. As first the Soviets were skeptical he was American, but he convinced them by helping blow up some trees that were blocking their advance. (Apparently he was pretty good at demolitions....)

Later, after helping liberate his old POW camp, he was wounded in an attack by German dive bombers, and taken to a field hospital. While he recovered, top Russian general Georgy Zhukov paid a visit, and granted him travel papers that allowed him to go to the U.S. embassy in Moscow. (Of course, by that time he'd been declared dead, and had trouble convincing embassy officials otherwise. Eventually he convinced them to fingerprint him for confirmation.)

I first heard about Beyrle in May 2004, when I read in the Korea Times about his visit to Moscow for the Victory Day celebrations. At that time his son, John Beyrle, held the position of deputy ambassador (charge d'affaires?) at the embassy.

Joseph Beryle chronicled his experience in the book The Simple Sounds of Freedom (aka Behind Hitler's Lines). He passed away in late 2004.

To me, Beyrle is admirable for a couple of reasons. First, he sacrificed his chance to go to college in order to serve his country. Second, he continued to try escaping even after taking so many beatings -- I might have just given up. Finally, he showed incredible persistence in his dealings with U.S. diplomats.

If only for that last reason, he deserves to be on this blog.

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