The Harrowing Tale of Michigan's Joe Beyrle: WWII Veteran of Two Countries

by Erica Emelander

With this being the month of November, I thought it appropriate to write an article about a hometown veteran. To me, the story of Joseph Beyrle is made for Hollywood. Joe was an American soldier who was given accolades by both the United States and the Soviet Union. He was a hero who deserves to have his story told. 

Joe Beyrle was eighteen when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and officially pulled the United States into the Second World War. After graduating from St. Joseph High School in Muskegon, Michigan, he had a decision to make, accept a baseball scholarship and attend Notre Dame University, or join a branch of the military and fight for his country. He chose the latter, enlisting in the Army and volunteering for the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne’s “Screaming Eagles”. He specialized in radio communications and demolition.

Joe’s training brought extended marching in the blistering South Carolina heat, runs up the Currahee Mountain, and jump school in both America and Britain. During jump school, he earned the nickname "Jumping Joe," because he appeared fearless parachuting out of planes. In fact, many of his fellow trainees paid Joe five dollars to make a jump in their name, as they were afraid of spraining an ankle or breaking a shin.

In 1943, Joe found himself in England. He volunteered for a dangerous series of missions, where he would parachute into France with a backpack full of gold coins for the French Resistance. Once he handed off the gold, Joe was moved around constantly by members of the Resistance to escape detection, and 7-10 days later, he would be picked up and brought back to England. He ran this mission multiple times, though he knew if he failed, he would be executed by the enemy.

Then came the invasion of Normandy. The night before D-Day, Joe, and others from the 101st, jumped behind enemy lines. Their objective was to destroy bridges and cut power supply lines to soften the Nazi defenses for the men who would land on Utah Beach. As the men prepared to jump, several planes were hit by enemy fire and explosions filled the air. Joe landed on the roof of a church, the same roof that hid a Nazi sniper who shot at Joe’s parachute the entire time he was descending. He clambered down the roof and became a singular man on a mission.

Alone in France, with no idea where the rest of his unit was, Joe blew up a power substation and ambushed a squad of German infantry by throwing grenades at them. As he moved to blow up a bridge, he stumbled into a Nazi bunker where he was forced to surrender.

After his capture, Joe was marched deeper into France to a temporary Prisoner of War (POW) camp, at which time the entire group was bombed by an unknown attacker. Joe used the distraction to make his escape. He avoided capture for twelve hours, but was apprehended again, thrown into a truck, and brought to another POW camp. Once there, he was interrogated and beaten so severely that he was sent to an infirmary.

Three months of starvation, beatings, interrogations, and being moved to other camps followed. Joe was forced to work during the day, survived bombings from the Allies during the night, and continued to face bad weather, disease, and exhaustion. He was then transferred to a POW camp in Poland where he immediately began planning an escape.

On a frigid November night in 1944, Joe and three other American POW’s cut through barbed wire and escaped South. They crept into a railway station to hop a train, hoping to meet up with the Red Army as it marched through. Alas, they boarded the wrong train and ended up in Berlin. Luckily, they linked up with the German Underground Resistance, a group who tried to help the Allies during the war. Joe and the other soldiers successfully hid for almost a week before the Gestapo found them. Joe was again interrogated, tortured, and even more brutally abused, before he was handed off to the German Army.

Once again confined to a prison in Poland, Joe was punished for his previous escapes. It took months for him to get his strength back, and once he did, he escaped again. Though it was January, Joe had to dive into a frigid river to throw off the trail of German Shepherd dogs that had been sent out to hunt him down. Sadly, three soldiers who escaped with him were gunned down as they neared the river.

Joe finally reached Soviet lines and met up with the First Guards Tank Army, led by Battalion Commander, Alexsandra Samusenko, the only female tank commander of World War II. Joe spoke little Russian, but convinced the army to let him join their unit. He was issued a gun and ammo, and promptly moved with the Russians, assisting them in liberating a POW camp--the same camp from which he had just escaped.

It was a short, bloody fight, and Joe was able to raid the camp office and locate and take his POW photo. He continued to fight with the Soviet Union in Poland where he was wounded in the leg and then sent to the US Embassy in Moscow. Unfortunately, the ambassador did not believe Joe was who he claimed to be, as records showed that Joseph R. Beyrle had been declared killed in action on June 10, 1944. The ambassador believed Joe was a German spy, so he was shipped around Europe until his identity was established. Joe finally returned home on April 11, 1945.

Once back in the United States, he visited with his family, went to Miami Beach for rest and recuperation, and was honorably discharged from the Army due to disabilities. He was also awarded the Purple Heart. He married JoAnne Hollowell on September 14, 1946 in the same church and by the same priest who officiated at his funeral Mass two years earlier when he had been presumed dead.

After the war, Joe worked as a supervisor for the Brunswick Corporation in Muskegon until 1981 and was well-liked by all who knew him. Thankfully Joe had the foresight to write down his memoirs. He died on December 12, 2004, at the age of 81, while visiting his old training grounds in Toccoa, Georgia. Joe is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. 

What an amazing legacy this man has, as do so many of our military veterans. Joe Beyrle is truly an American hero. There are so many other details of Joe’s story that I was not able to fit in this article. If you would to learn more, check out the following:

Read:
Joe’s story in his own words: http://old.506infantry.org/stories/beyrle_his.htm
The Simple Sounds of Freedom or Behind Hitler’s Lines by Thomas H. Taylor
Arlington National Cemetery obituary: http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/jrbeyrle.htm
Honor and Fidelity: The Chronicle of Joe Beyrle: http://militarywiz.tumblr.com/post/113136942944/joe-beyrle-an-american-in-the-red-armyMilitary History of the Great Lakes account: https://ss.sites.mtu.edu/mhugl/2017/12/08/joseph-beyrle-dual-soldier/
Watch: Heroes from History Episode 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GWIfQKwMC
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Turner Daughters Book 3 Preview!

Turner Daughters Book 3 Preview!

Only a couple of months until the release of "Plans for a Future of Hope".  Here is a scene to get you excited!

Wednesday, January 9, 1861

Vicksburg, Mississippi

That evening, Victoria sat in the parlor and looked at the mail she had picked up during her earlier errands.

“Anything good in the post today?”

Victoria looked up and smiled at her younger brother, Gregory.  “Nothing for you.  Uncle Matthew wrote to Father and there were some other missives for him, but not much else.”

“Not much else,” he said.  “Which means there was something else.”

“Perhaps.  But for me, not you.”  She fingered the letter in question.

He smiled and sat down.  “So, I heard you had an interesting conversation with Mr. Thompson atop Sky Parlor Hill.”

“Indeed,” She replied.  “Did Father tell you?  Jeremy was going to speak with Father as soon as possible.”

“No, I heard from Jason.”  Gregory replied.  Jason was Gregory and Victoria’s older brother.  “He said you two were seen together at the Hill, quite close, and so he went and spoke with Mr. Thompson.”

Victoria’s head shot up.  “He didn’t!”  She loved her oldest brother dearly, but he could be ridiculously overprotective at times.  

“Of course he did.  You do realize that Jason doesn’t really care for Mr. Thompson, correct?”

“He never mentioned that to me,” Victoria said, then bit her lip.  She usually appreciated Jason’s opinion on many matters, and he was an excellent judge of character.

“I have never had an issue with the man, personally.  Jason just wants to make sure that the man you are courting is the right one for you.”

“Well, thank you both for that.  I just hope my dear brother didn’t scare him away.”

“If my conversation with Jeremy Thompson scared him away, then good riddance.”  Jason Turner strode into the parlor.  “If he wants to be a member of this family, he should be able to take my jesting.”

“Your intimidation, you mean.”  Victoria gave her brother a hard look.  “So help me, Jason Turner, if you have ruined this for me…”

Jason sat on a settee and kicked his feet up, lounging comfortably.  “I haven’t.  Worry not.  He said he’ll do right by you.  I’m not sure I like the idea of you living in the Confederate capital.”

“What’s that, now?”  Gregory sat up, a lock of brown hair falling in his face.  “Why would you move?  Where does Thompson plan on taking you?”

“He’s going to be in our new Southern government.  Moving to Alabama, most likely with the rest of the politicians.”  Jason replied.

“Government?  The yellow dog won’t even fight?”  Gregory shook his head.  Victoria bristled at the insinuation of the Jeremy being a coward.

“Gregory Turner, how dare you say that?”  Her stomach dropped.  “Wait.  Does that mean you…?”

“Plan on enlisting?”  Gregory smiled.  “Absolutely.”

“What about school?”  She asked.  Gregory was getting his education, training to be a lawyer alongside their father.

“I’ll simply take a leave of absence from school.  People are saying that the war, once it starts, won’t last long.”

“Yes, but…” Victoria was at a loss for words.  She couldn’t believe her baby brother, just nineteen years old, was going to enlist.  She turned to Jason.  “And what about you?  Are you going to leave us as well?”

“Not exactly.”  Jason put his hands behind his head.  “I’ll stay in Warren County.  The militia will be quite busy with keeping the Yankees away from Vicksburg.  It will be a fairly high priority, what our position on the Mississippi.  I plan on staying right here.”

Victoria was quiet for a moment contemplating.  “Has anyone heard what Father plans on doing?”  She couldn’t imagine her father donning a uniform and fighting, although it was hard to imagine Gregory in that role as well.  “What about Abraham?  Will he leave Mary Grace, do you think?”  Mary Grace was their sister, born in between Victoria and Gregory.  She and her husband, Abraham ran the local haberdashery, selling men’s hats and other accessories.  They had three children already, two-year-old twins named Gabriel and Adam, and three-month-old Hope.

“I’m not sure about Father, but I imagine Abraham will enlist with us,” Gregory said.  “He’s not one that will want to stay behind when most of the other men have signed up.”

“I believe you’re right, unfortunately for Mary Grace,” Jason replied.  “I haven’t asked Father what his plans are.  He likely wants to confer with Mother first, as he does with all major decisions.”

“They do at that,” Victoria murmured.

Finally, deciding that his sister was distracted enough, Gregory made his move and lunged at Victoria, quickly plucking the letter from her hand.

“Ha!”  He called out victoriously.  “Now we’ll see who you have been corresponding with.”  He looked at the postmark.  “Fredericksburg.”  He looked puzzled.  “Why would you be so secretive about a letter from one of our cousins?”

“Unless it’s not…”   Jason took the letter from Gregory.

“You oafs!  Give me that back!”  Victoria didn’t care that she was acting juvenile, as her brothers were acting the same way.

“Not quite yet, this is masculine handwriting, if I am not mistaken.”  Jason opened the envelope.  “Aha!”

“Jason!”  Victoria stood and tried to take the letter back.  Jason swung his legs off the settee and stood, holding the letter away from Victoria and reading it.

“Mr. Nathaniel Prentiss.  Of course, I recall him.  Good man, he seemed.”  He read the letter further.  “And a brave one, it appears.  He says he plans on enlisting once Virginia leaves the Union.  Wants you to know he thinks of you often and that he wishes he could see you again.  He loves receiving letters from you and hopes that can continue even when the war that is coming actually begins.”  Jason finally relented and handed her the letter.  “I always liked that man.  Better than Jeremy Thompson, that’s for sure.  Why did you never court him?”

“Because he never asked.”  She said quickly.  “Besides, it has long been my belief that he has feelings for our perfect cousin, Belle.”  She smiled brightly, trying to hide the fact that she would have said yes to a courtship from Nathaniel right away.  “Besides, I have Mr. Thompson now.  Nathaniel and I can remain the best of friends.”