Fifth Avenue Forum

The "Nazareth" mentioned in the Band's song "The Weight" is based on Nazareth, PA.

US paratrooper Joseph Beyrle served with the 101st Airborne Division during World War II.

Prior to the start of the Normandy invasions, Beyrle jumped twice into occupied France to coordinate, provide arms, and money to several French resistance units.
He then jumped into France on D-Day, destroyed a enemy gun emplacement, was captured, escaped, and captured again.

He was beaten nearly to death, his uniform and dog tags were taken from him.
A German soldier attempted to infiltrate US lines dressed in Beyrle's uniform and was killed.

The US War Department believed Beyrle had been killed in combat and notified his parents.
His mother refused to believe her son was dead and continued to ignore the calls from the family to accept his death.

Beyrle was taken into captivity at an German controlled POW camp.
He attempted to escape and was shot and wounded.
He survived on minimum food and medical attention.

Beyrle would be held in seven different POW camps and escaped again, this time the Gestapo was ready to shoot him, claiming he was a spy.

He escaped again and found his way to a Soviet armor brigade which was near the POW camp.

Beyrle having knowledge of engines and mechanical background assisted the Soviet tank unit which was equipped with American made M4 Shermans.

He served with armor unit commanded by a Soviet female officer and acted as a scout for the Russians against German positions.
He was wounded again when German dive bombers attacked the Russian armor column.

He was taken to a Soviet hospital where he met Soviet Marshall Zhukov who was curious on how this American paratrooper ended up in a Soviet hospital.
Zhukov was so impressed with Beryle's story he provided safe passage back to the US Embassy in Moscow.

Due to the US War Department believing Beyrle had been killed back in June 1944, the US government kept him under guard for several days until his dental records confirmed he was indeed Beyrle.

Beyrle served more combat time with the Soviets than the Americans and received both US and Soviet citations.

Beyrle returned home and married his sweetheart by the same priest who two years earlier had held his funeral when his family believed he was dead.

Here is SGT Joseph Beyrle's Prisoner of War picture after he was captured again by the Germans.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Beyrle

Rename them after guys who didn't get captured.

Red eyes or irritated nose or throat after swimming? Blame the pee, poop, and sweat!

Reno being west of LA is the one that always amazed me.

Detroit is further East than Atlanta

South Detroit = Windsor, Ontario

It's like saying you're from East Philadelphia...

Yeah, well, my daddy was a cop on the east side of Chicago. Back in the U.S.A., back in the bad old days.

He was a good swimmer, too.

Cash enlisted in the Air Force on July 7, 1950. After basic training at Lackland Air Force Base and technical training at Brooks Air Force Base, both in San Antonio, Texas, Cash was assigned to the 12th Radio Squadron Mobile of the U.S. Air Force Security Service at Landsberg, West Germany. He worked as a Morse code operator intercepting Soviet Army transmission. While at Landsberg he created his first band, "The Landsberg Barbarians". On March 3, 1953, he received a telegraph noting that Soviet Premier Stalin had died making him the first westerner to be aware of the death.