Friday, February 19, 2010

Life of Russo-American WWII Hero Celebrated

This just in from Russia Today: The life of US paratrooper Jumpin' Joe Beyrle is being celebrated with an exhibit in St Petersburg. He is thought to be the only veteran who fought for the US as well as Russian forces during the war. Oh, this is a fascinating story. In a nutshell, he escaped Nazi prison camps, ran into Soviet forces and joined up with them.





And to add to the wonder of the story, Joe's son, John Beyrle now lives and works in Russia. In fact, he is the U.S. Ambassador to Russia. Naturally his love and respect for things Russian runs deep and strong.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I read Joe's book sometime ago-- Behind Hitler's Lines: The True Story of the Only Soldier to Fight for both America and the Soviet Union in World War II.

In the book, he admits baring witness to war crimes committed by Russian troops (executing Prussian civilians), but not many people read these days.