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Permalink Reply by Komrad Kommissar Fennek on February 22, 2011 at 12:15am

 

Joseph R. Beyrle (August 25, 1923 - December 12, 2004) is thought to be the only American soldier to have served with both the U.S. Army and the Red Army in World War II.

 

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-Côme-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 Gorzów 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 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

 

                                                                                                                  -deskription from wikipedia

 

chekk out the book "Behind Hitler's Lines" for the komplete story Komradz-an outstanding, life changing book-one thing wikipedia doesnt mention is the tank kommander of the Soviet battalion was a FEMALE and Beyrle rode inside her tank during multiple assaults on the German Army

 

 

 

 

 

Permalink Reply by Komrad Kommissar Fennek on February 22, 2011 at 10:23pm

i know the story of Lyudmila-when people think of great russian snipers their first thought is of Vasily  Zaytsev-but the truth is she killed more fascists than he-OUTSTANDING POST KOMRAD

Permalink Reply by Komrad Venessa Wicked☭ on February 22, 2011 at 9:46pm

Alexandrov Ensemble

The A.V. Alexandrov Russian army twice red-bannered academic song and dance ensemble (Russian: Дважды краснознаменный академический ансамбль песни и пляски Российской армии имени А. В. Александрова, Dvazhdy krasnoznamenny akademichesky ansambl' pesni i plyaski Rossiyskoy armii imeni A. V. Alexandrova), in short, the Alexandrov ensemble (Russian: Ансамбль Александрова, Ansambl' Alexandrova) is a performing ensemble that serves as the official army choir of the Rissian Armed Forces. It is known worldwide as the Red Army Choir or Red Army Chorus.

Permalink Reply by Wicked Death☭ on March 3, 2011 at 11:35am

Permalink Reply by Wicked Death☭ on March 3, 2011 at 8:32pm

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) renders highest tribute to our young martyrs and heroes of the people: Tanya Domingo, Ian Dorado, Kemberly Jul Luna and Ian Maderazo. The NDFP conveys its deepest condolences to their families, their organizations, friends and classmates.

Tanya Domingo and Ian Dorado, Fine Arts students and cultural activists from the University of the Philippines were killed by soldiers of the fascist Arroyo regime on January 14 in Bulacan, Central Luzon. Ian Maderazo of the University of the Philippines – Los Banos, scholar and student leader, was slain on January 9 in Macalelon, Quezon in Southern Tagalog. Kemberly “Kimay” Jul Luna, student leader of Mindanao State University – Iligan Insitute of Technology was killed on December 15, 2009 in Valencia City, Bukidnon in Mindanao.

They integrated deeply with the oppressed and struggling masses, joined the revolutionary mass movement passionately crying out the demands of the masses, used their talents and energy to serve the people, and made the decision to become freedom fighters in the people's armed revolution.

In the long revolutionary tradition of the youth, from the time of Emilio Jacinto in the Katipunan, to the youth in the First Quarter Storm, our beloved young martyrs have blazed the path forward for the Filipino people's struggle for national and social liberation. Our young martyrs' deep commitment and fiery passion to fight for freedom and liberation inspires the youth and the entire people to raise the level of the revolutionary struggle ever higher.

We salute our young martyrs. We pay the highest honor to Tanya Domingo, Ian Dorado, Kimay Jul Luna and Ian Maderazo! Let their total commitment and service to the people and the revolution be a bright beacon of inspiration to the youth in the Philippines and all over the world!

Permalink Reply by Cobra Kommander on March 12, 2011 at 9:12pm

Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov

Need I say more... Father of the Modern day Assault Riffle.