World War II Database

Joe Beyrle, a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne in World War II, was interned at Arlington National Cemetery on April 22. The Michigan native died in Toccoa, Georgia, on December 12 prior to addressing a veterans group. He was 81.

Beyrle jumped into Normandy on D-day, was captured by the Germans, held prisoner in several camps, and eventually escaped to fight with the Russians near the end of the war. His remarkable story is told by Thomas Taylor in Behind Hitler's Lines.

In attendance at the ceremony in Arlington was US Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), Taylor, Oliver North, representatives from the Russian Embassy, including Rear Admiral Alexander Agapov, author and historian Mark Bando, as well as several 101st Airborne veterans from WW2 and Vietnam.

Beyrle's obituary in the Washington Post is here.