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Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Writing
Review: "The Simple Sounds Of Freedom" by Thomas H. Taylor, Random House, New York 2002. The title of the book is derived from President Clinton's speech in France on the fiftieth anniversary of D Day.This is a biography of Joe Beyrle but the book is also a record of praise for the 101st Airborne. Joe Beyrle, from Michigan, was part of the 101st Airborne when that division dropped into Normandy on D-Day, 1944. He was captured, escaped, capture again and shipped off to a German POW camp. After one escape, he is captured in Berlin, the capital city of the Third Reich; he is tortured by Gestapo. Joe is rescued from the Gestapo by the German Army, the Wehrmacht, of all people, who claim him as their prisoner. They were following bureaucratic procedures, a common trait in Nazi Germany. After regaining his strength, Joe Beyrle again escapes, and this time, he is close enough to reach the relative safety of Soviet lines. After identifying himself as an American, Joe decides to stay with the Soviet armored column in order to kill Germans. Thus, he fights on both the Western and Eastern fronts in Europe in 1944-1945, fulfilling the sub-title of the book, "...Only Soldier to Fight For Both America and the Soviet Union in World War II". As a 101st Airborne combat veteran himself, the author was capable of an excellent job of bonding with Joe Beyrle, so as to produce an almost personal memoir direct from the Joe's memories. At times, it was difficult to distinguish between Beyrle and Taylor. At other times, particularly in Chapter Sixteen, entitled, "Bastogne", it was evident that it was all Thomas Taylor writing in praise of the division he loves, the 101st. From the viewpoint of a biography of Joe Beyrle, such chapters were unnecessary, but their presence rounds out the story and makes a better history of the time. By the way, the photo collection in the book shows Joe Beyrle aging in a remarkably similar fashion to the character of Private Ryan in the movie, "Saving Private Ryan".
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Writing
Review: "The Simple Sounds Of Freedom" by Thomas H. Taylor, Random House, New York 2002. The title of the book is derived from President Clinton's speech in France on the fiftieth anniversary of D Day. This is a biography of Joe Beyrle but the book is also a record of praise for the 101st Airborne. Joe Beyrle, from Michigan, was part of the 101st Airborne when that division dropped into Normandy on D-Day, 1944. He was captured, escaped, capture again and shipped off to a German POW camp. After one escape, he is captured in Berlin, the capital city of the Third Reich; he is tortured by Gestapo. Joe is rescued from the Gestapo by the German Army, the Wehrmacht, of all people, who claim him as their prisoner. They were following bureaucratic procedures, a common trait in Nazi Germany. After regaining his strength, Joe Beyrle again escapes, and this time, he is close enough to reach the relative safety of Soviet lines. After identifying himself as an American, Joe decides to stay with the Soviet armored column in order to kill Germans. Thus, he fights on both the Western and Eastern fronts in Europe in 1944-1945, fulfilling the sub-title of the book, "...Only Soldier to Fight For Both America and the Soviet Union in World War II". As a 101st Airborne combat veteran himself, the author was capable of an excellent job of bonding with Joe Beyrle, so as to produce an almost personal memoir direct from the Joe's memories. At times, it was difficult to distinguish between Beyrle and Taylor. At other times, particularly in Chapter Sixteen, entitled, "Bastogne", it was evident that it was all Thomas Taylor writing in praise of the division he loves, the 101st. From the viewpoint of a biography of Joe Beyrle, such chapters were unnecessary, but their presence rounds out the story and makes a better history of the time. By the way, the photo collection in the book shows Joe Beyrle aging in a remarkably similar fashion to the character of Private Ryan in the movie, "Saving Private Ryan".
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down
Review: An amazing story, one you'll want to read over and over again.
Rating:
Summary: A Most Interesting Story
Review: I found the story of Joe Beyrle to be almost unbelieveable. How could one person go through so much. I was very anxious to read the book, because I once knew who he was from work. I worked at Brunswick Corporation in Muskegon, as did he. I knew that he was a prisoner of war, and that he had been reported killed in action. However, I didn't know that whole story until now. Many of the comments about Muskegon as familiar to me. Also, I once met his parents, as I am friends with his niece. Thomas Taylor is an excellent writer. He knows how to make the story interesting, and provides much detail. Even though many of the incidents in the story are not pleasant, they are a part of history. He depicts World War II as brutal and horrible. Let us hope that it never happens again.
Rating:
Summary: A Most Interesting Story
Review: I found the story of Joe Beyrle to be almost unbelieveable. How could one person go through so much. I was very anxious to read the book, because I once knew who he was from work. I worked at Brunswick Corporation in Muskegon, as did he. I knew that he was a prisoner of war, and that he had been reported killed in action. However, I didn't know that whole story until now. Many of the comments about Muskegon as familiar to me. Also, I once met his parents, as I am friends with his niece. Thomas Taylor is an excellent writer. He knows how to make the story interesting, and provides much detail. Even though many of the incidents in the story are not pleasant, they are a part of history. He depicts World War II as brutal and horrible. Let us hope that it never happens again.
Rating:
Summary: amerikanski tovarisch!
Review: Several years ago I read parts of Joe Beyrle's memoir, translated into Russian for the gazette Sovietskaya Zhizn'. "The Simple Sounds of Freedom" contains Joe's entire memoir and his exciting biography by Thomas Taylor. Mr. Taylor, a veteran and historian of the 101st Airborne "Screaming Eagles", is the perfect choice to tell Joe's story. Joe Beyrle was a small-town boy in 1942, gung-ho to prove the patriotism of his German-American family. He joined the Screaming Eagle "Currahees", and made a couple of harrowing jumps into occupied France to aid the Resistance. That was in preparation for the big day, D Day. Alas, Joe was captured almost as he touched ground in Normandy and missed his chance to fight. He survived beatings upon arrival at a POW camp, only to experience a most painful sight: the bullet-riddled body of his beloved CO, Robert Wolverton, hanging from a tree. Laughing guards were using the slain Currahee for bayonet practice. Later escaping, Joe was caught, tortured, and interred in a notorious concentration camp, Stalag 111-C. There he saw miserable Soviet prisoners, segregated, starved, freezing, worked to death. There was little the American krieges could do for them, except throw some bread over their fence on occasion. Again, Joe plotted escape, and finally succeeded, although two of his buddies perished in the attempt. In his emaciated condition, trapped behind enemy lines, Joe hoped to be rescued by the advancing Red Army. Meanwhile, at home in Muskegon, his family had received word of their son's "death in action" and were grieving his supposed loss. These events are interwoven in the book with the overall campaign of the 101st Airborne. Several chapters do not deal with Joe's story at all, but with his Currahee comrades' accomplishments during this crucial period of the War. I found this did not distract in the least from the biography; in fact, made it all the more interesting. And Thomas' macho style of prose quite enhances his patriotic pride in his Division! It is not until the last third of the book that Joe meets the Soviet column. Commanding the Sherman tank battalion was a Russian woman whose "five-syllable name was unpronouncable." Joe called her by her rank, "Major", and joined the infantry attached to her own tank. His new comrades called him "Yo", and came to appreciate his skill in demolitions. Major led from the front, which meant Joe got plenty of combat action. He accompanied her all the way to the banks of the Oder, prepared to go through the meatgrinder at her side, into Berlin. But then he was wounded, and had to be evacuated to Moscow. Fifty years later, he would be decorated by Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin as the only American soldier to fight for both the USA and the USSR. And he would think about Major and wonder how many of her battalion survived. "Proshchai tovarisch!" he writes. "If she is still alive, I'd go to Russia just to see her -- my major, my CO, my second Wolverton -- who was a woman." I enjoy books about World War ll, but this one touched me in a special way. Today Joe is retired, a veteran of the fast-dwindling Greatest Generation, my parents' generation, who fought Hitler. Ironically, the new generation of 101st Airborne Screaming Eagles fight on against another foe which faced the Soviet army... in Afghanistan.
Rating:
Summary: amerikanski tovarisch!
Review: Several years ago I read parts of Joe Beyrle's memoir, translated into Russian for the gazette Sovietskaya Zhizn'. "The Simple Sounds of Freedom" contains Joe's entire memoir and his exciting biography by Thomas Taylor. Mr. Taylor, a veteran and historian of the 101st Airborne "Screaming Eagles", is the perfect choice to tell Joe's story. Joe Beyrle was a small-town boy in 1942, gung-ho to prove the patriotism of his German-American family. He joined the Screaming Eagle "Currahees", and made a couple of harrowing jumps into occupied France to aid the Resistance. That was in preparation for the big day, D Day. Alas, Joe was captured almost as he touched ground in Normandy and missed his chance to fight. He survived beatings upon arrival at a POW camp, only to experience a most painful sight: the bullet-riddled body of his beloved CO, Robert Wolverton, hanging from a tree. Laughing guards were using the slain Currahee for bayonet practice. Later escaping, Joe was caught, tortured, and interred in a notorious concentration camp, Stalag 111-C. There he saw miserable Soviet prisoners, segregated, starved, freezing, worked to death. There was little the American krieges could do for them, except throw some bread over their fence on occasion. Again, Joe plotted escape, and finally succeeded, although two of his buddies perished in the attempt. In his emaciated condition, trapped behind enemy lines, Joe hoped to be rescued by the advancing Red Army. Meanwhile, at home in Muskegon, his family had received word of their son's "death in action" and were grieving his supposed loss. These events are interwoven in the book with the overall campaign of the 101st Airborne. Several chapters do not deal with Joe's story at all, but with his Currahee comrades' accomplishments during this crucial period of the War. I found this did not distract in the least from the biography; in fact, made it all the more interesting. And Thomas' macho style of prose quite enhances his patriotic pride in his Division! It is not until the last third of the book that Joe meets the Soviet column. Commanding the Sherman tank battalion was a Russian woman whose "five-syllable name was unpronouncable." Joe called her by her rank, "Major", and joined the infantry attached to her own tank. His new comrades called him "Yo", and came to appreciate his skill in demolitions. Major led from the front, which meant Joe got plenty of combat action. He accompanied her all the way to the banks of the Oder, prepared to go through the meatgrinder at her side, into Berlin. But then he was wounded, and had to be evacuated to Moscow. Fifty years later, he would be decorated by Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin as the only American soldier to fight for both the USA and the USSR. And he would think about Major and wonder how many of her battalion survived. "Proshchai tovarisch!" he writes. "If she is still alive, I'd go to Russia just to see her -- my major, my CO, my second Wolverton -- who was a woman." I enjoy books about World War ll, but this one touched me in a special way. Today Joe is retired, a veteran of the fast-dwindling Greatest Generation, my parents' generation, who fought Hitler. Ironically, the new generation of 101st Airborne Screaming Eagles fight on against another foe which faced the Soviet army... in Afghanistan.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Story
Review: This is the fascinating story of Joe Beyrle of the 101st Airborne Division Screaming Eagles in WWII, written by Thomas Taylor, a Vietnam era Screaming Eagle and the son of the commanding general of the 101st in WWII. Beyrle jumped into Normandy on D-Day and was captured by the Germans. He escapes and is re-captured several times before he joins a Soviet armored unit and fights the Nazis until the end of the war. This is the story of his suffering and triumph over adversity in many situations and circumstances.
It is an inspiring tale of survival and the human quest for freedom. This book is a page turner and I highly recommend it to all.
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