Shootin' Pucks and The Enemy

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 a 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 armored 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 an 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 U.S. War Department believing Beyrle had been killed back in June 1944, the U.S. 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.

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse

Children laid in their beds knowing St. Nick was near They were bundles of joy filled with Christmas cheer

The internet was quiet, hardly a soul searched for porn

They went to sleep early, awaiting Christmas morn

Like a large, bearded burrito, I laid wrapped in my bed  While visions of corgis danced in my head

But then on my roof, I heard a strange sound  Like a bunch of hoof-steps and then a great pound  I rose from my sleep and put on some pants  I missed one of the leg-holes and did an awkward dance

I heard a loud rustling and thought it was looters With my bat’leth in hand I patrolled for intruders

I saw a dark figure who held a large sack I sneaked in behind and planned my attack I swung and I punched with all of my might But this dastardly fiend hardly put up a fight

I jabbed with my blade, he was pinned to the wall Then I realized he was no intruder at all  This startling discovery gave me great pause For I had just pummeled dear old Santa Claus 

I surveyed his wounds, he was out like a light There was no way he could finish his job on this night I couldn’t ruin Christmas for all the girls and boys  This was my fault, so I would deliver their toys.

I got to the roof and saw Santa’s sleigh  The reindeer were waiting to get underway I hopped aboard and then grabbed the reins  I suddenly realized I had forgotten their names  Now Steve! Now Dave! Now Lenny and John! On Pete! On Phil! On Darryl and Ron!

The sleigh did not move, and they gave me a scoff  I googled their names, I was WAY off

Now Dasher!

Now Dancer!

Now Prancer and Vixen!

On Comet!

On Cupid!

On Donner and Blitzen!

The eight magic reindeer took off in a rush I hurried them on as I shouted, “Mush! Mush!”  We flew ‘cross the moon and jingled our bells  We flew past the ocean and its midnight swells

I slipped down chimneys and delivered the toys  I ate all the cookies left by good girls and boys

Christmas was saved, and I let out a sigh If the children had known, they surely would cry

So yes, I beat up Santa, but he is doing just fine He’ll be back to normal in the nick of time The elves picked him up and treated his wounds  He’s doing very well and will recover quite soon I said a jolly, “Ho ho ho!” when I heard he was alright  And I shouted from on high…

“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!”

EPILOGUE

Me, sobbing:

Scariest Urban Legends In Each State

Ariel School UFO Sighting

Over two decades ago (Sept 14th, 1994) 62 students from a remote elementary school in Ruwa, Zimbabwe saw something very strange. A silver object descended from the sky and onto their school-yard. Many kids ran away while others “stood transfixed at the strange events unfolding before their eyes.”

All the children (ages 5-12) were asked to draw what they saw, as they were the only witnessess of what happened. Of all the drawings, 22 of them were very clear and very similar to each other. They all depicted a “flying saucer” and a strange humanoid creature. It’s also important to note that many of these kids did not have media access.

Cynthia Hind, a South African MUFON field investigator was called and asked to help out in this case. She interviewed all the kids and asked them all questions.

“The children vary in cultures: there are black, white, coloured and Asian children. One little girl said to me, ‘I swear by every hair on my head and the whole Bible that I am telling the truth.’ I could see the pleasure on her face when I told her that I believed her. The smaller children from 5-7 years were very frightened at the time and ran shouting ‘Help me, help me.’ When the older children asked why they were saying this, the reply was, ‘He is coming to eat us.’ I should think this applied more to the black African children who have legends of _tokoloshies_ eating children.” 

This case remains unexplained for the most part. Some skeptics have brushed it off as mass-hysteria while other skeptics believe it to be a school yard prank. All the kids that were interviewed had similar stories and descriptions of what transpired. 

SOURCE

There are several video interviews of this case you can go and watch.

VIDEO

It is excellent, highly recommended, and honestly way more historically accurate than History Channel’s Vikings. 

I got this in an email from a well read relative And thought I’d share it

There are 30,000 (33,636) gun related deaths per year by firearms. What is never shown, though, is a breakdown of those deaths to put them in perspective; as compared to other causes of death. • 65% of those deaths are by suicide which would never be prevented by gun laws - 21,175 o4 63% • 15% are by law enforcement in the line of duty and justified • 17% are through criminal activity, gang and drug related or mentally ill persons - 11,208 or 33% including law enforcement. • 3% are accidental discharge deaths - 505 0r 1.5%

So technically, “gun violence” is not 30,000 annually but drops to 5,100. Still too many? Well, first, how are those deaths spanned across the nation? • 480 homicides (9.4%) were in Chicago • 344 homicides (6.7%) were in Baltimore • 333 homicides (6.5%) were in Detroit • 119 homicides (2.3%) were in Washington DC (a 54% increase over prior years)

So basically, 25% of all gun crime happens in just 4 cities. All 4 of those cities have strict gun laws so it is not the lack of law that is the root cause.

This basically leaves 3,825 for the entire rest of the nation or about 75 per state. That is an average because some States have much higher rates than others. For example, California had 1,169. Alabama had 1.

Now, who has the strictest gun laws by far? California of course but understand, it is not the tool (guns) driving this. It is a crime rate spawned by the number of criminal persons residing in those cities and states. So if all cities and states are not created equal, then there must be something other than the tool causing the gun deaths.

What about banning assault weapons. In 2010 there were 358 homicides by rife or 5.6% of all gun deaths (not all were assault rifles although the term is quite vague) and 6,009 or 94.4% were committed with hand guns. In other words, over 95% of gun deaths were not committed by assault rifles.

Are 5,100 deaths per year horrific? How about in comparison to other deaths? All death is sad and especially so when it is in the commission of a crime but that is the nature of crime. Robbery, death, rape, assault; all are done by criminals to victims and thinking that criminals will obey laws is ludicrous. That’s why they are criminals.

But what of other deaths? • 40,000+ die from a drug overdose – THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THAT! · 36,000 people die per year from the flu, far exceeding the criminal gun deaths • 34,000 people die per year in traffic fatalities (exceeding gun deaths even if you include suicide) • 200,000+ people die each year (and growing) from preventable medical malpractice. You are safer in Chicago than you are in a hospital! • 710,000 people die per year from heart disease. Time to stop the cheeseburgers!

So what is the point? If Obama and the anti-gun movement focused their attention on heart disease, even 10% a decrease would save twice the lives annually of all gun related deaths (including suicide, law enforcement, etc.).

A 10% reduction in malpractice would be 66% of the total gun deaths or 4 times the number of criminal homicides. Simple, easily preventable 10% reductions!

So you have to ask yourself, in the grand scheme of things, why the focus on guns? It’s pretty simple. Taking away guns gives control to governments. This is not conspiracy theory; this is a historical fact.

Why is it impossible for the government to spill over into dictatorship? Why did the Japanese not even attempt to attack California in WWII? Because as they put it, “there is a gun behind every blade of grass”. The founders of this nation knew that regardless of the form of government, those in power may become corrupt and seek to rule as the British did. They too tried to disarm the populace of the colonies because it is not difficult to understand; a disarmed populace is a controllable populace. Thus, the second amendment was proudly and boldly included in the constitution. It must be preserved at all costs.