Posted on Dec 27, 2017
Korean Soldier Fighting on D-Day (Strange Stories of World War II)
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Last year we discussed this Korean soldier. I think SGT John " Mac " McConnell posted the story PFC (Join to see)
Here are some images of Yang Kyoungjong,
1. Yang Kyoungjong after his capture by the Americans on Utah Beach. June, 1944.
2. Yang Kyoungjong is taken by the Germans in Russia.
3. Koreans in the Wehrmacht
Here is some more background information on Yang Kyoungjong.
"He was Korean – captured by the Japanese and pressed to fight the Soviets, captured by the Soviets and pressed to fight the Germans, captured by the Germans and pressed to defend Normandy, where he was captured by the Americans. This is the story of Yang Kyoungjong, the only known soldier to fight on three sides of a war.
Little is known about Yang’s life prior to his service in WW2 other than that he was a native Korean who happened to be living in Japanese controlled Manchuria at the start of WW2. Due to this, Yang found himself conscripted against his will in 1938 and forced to serve in the Kwantung Army at just 18 years old. During the Battles of Khalkhin Gol, he was captured by the Soviet Red Army and sent to a labour camp. Because of the manpower shortages faced by the Soviets in its fight against Nazi Germany, in 1942 he was pressed into fighting in the Red Army along with thousands of other prisoners.
Yang’s service with the Soviets lasted about a year, during which time he took place in numerous engagements along the Eastern Front, most notably the Third Battle of Kharkov. It was in this battle that he found himself once again a prisoner of war for yet another nation.
The Germans were apparently unconcerned with how a Korean had come to end up fighting in Ukraine for the Soviets and simply took him prisoner along with hundreds of other soldiers. Again, the interesting part about Yang’s story would likely have ended here if the Nazis weren’t in the habit of allowing prisoners they didn’t execute to “volunteer” to serve with the Wehrmacht following their capture.
As a result of this practise, Yang was conscripted to fight in a German Ostbataillone (literally: East Battalion) in the 709 Infanterie-Division of the Wehrmacht. Ostbataillones were small battalions of men composed of “volunteers” from the numerous regions of Europe Nazi Germany controlled. These were folded into larger units of German soldiers to serve as shock troops and backup to more experienced Wehrmacht battalions.
After being conscripted to fight for the Third Reich, Yang was sent to help defend the Cotentin peninsula in France shortly before D-Day. When D-Day arrived and Allied troops successfully stormed the beaches, Yang was among a handful of soldiers captured by the United States’ 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment.
Initially it was reported by Lieutenant Robert Brewer of the 506th that they’d captured “four Asians in German uniform”. While this was technically true, the 506th mistakenly believed the four men (Yang included) were Japanese. In reality, three of the men hailed from Turkestan while Yang, as already noted, was of Korean heritage.Unable to communicate with Yang due to him not being fluent in either English or German, Yang was sent to yet another POW camp, this time in Britain, where he mercifully remained until the end of the war.
When WW2 ended, Yang chose not to return home, but instead immigrated to the United States where once again his story becomes hazy. He eventually ended up settling in Cook County, Illinois where he quietly passed away in 1992."
https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/yang-kyoungjong-1944/
Thanks for mentioning me LTC Ivan Raiklin, Esq.
FYI :COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. Capt Seid Waddell Capt Tom Brown SFC William Farrell SSgt Robert Marx Maj Marty Hogan PO1 William "Chip" Nagel SPC Margaret Higgins MSgt Jason McClish AN Christopher Crayne LTC Bill Koski SPC Tom DeSmet SGT Charles H. Hawes LTC Wayne Brandon SGT (Join to see)
Here are some images of Yang Kyoungjong,
1. Yang Kyoungjong after his capture by the Americans on Utah Beach. June, 1944.
2. Yang Kyoungjong is taken by the Germans in Russia.
3. Koreans in the Wehrmacht
Here is some more background information on Yang Kyoungjong.
"He was Korean – captured by the Japanese and pressed to fight the Soviets, captured by the Soviets and pressed to fight the Germans, captured by the Germans and pressed to defend Normandy, where he was captured by the Americans. This is the story of Yang Kyoungjong, the only known soldier to fight on three sides of a war.
Little is known about Yang’s life prior to his service in WW2 other than that he was a native Korean who happened to be living in Japanese controlled Manchuria at the start of WW2. Due to this, Yang found himself conscripted against his will in 1938 and forced to serve in the Kwantung Army at just 18 years old. During the Battles of Khalkhin Gol, he was captured by the Soviet Red Army and sent to a labour camp. Because of the manpower shortages faced by the Soviets in its fight against Nazi Germany, in 1942 he was pressed into fighting in the Red Army along with thousands of other prisoners.
Yang’s service with the Soviets lasted about a year, during which time he took place in numerous engagements along the Eastern Front, most notably the Third Battle of Kharkov. It was in this battle that he found himself once again a prisoner of war for yet another nation.
The Germans were apparently unconcerned with how a Korean had come to end up fighting in Ukraine for the Soviets and simply took him prisoner along with hundreds of other soldiers. Again, the interesting part about Yang’s story would likely have ended here if the Nazis weren’t in the habit of allowing prisoners they didn’t execute to “volunteer” to serve with the Wehrmacht following their capture.
As a result of this practise, Yang was conscripted to fight in a German Ostbataillone (literally: East Battalion) in the 709 Infanterie-Division of the Wehrmacht. Ostbataillones were small battalions of men composed of “volunteers” from the numerous regions of Europe Nazi Germany controlled. These were folded into larger units of German soldiers to serve as shock troops and backup to more experienced Wehrmacht battalions.
After being conscripted to fight for the Third Reich, Yang was sent to help defend the Cotentin peninsula in France shortly before D-Day. When D-Day arrived and Allied troops successfully stormed the beaches, Yang was among a handful of soldiers captured by the United States’ 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment.
Initially it was reported by Lieutenant Robert Brewer of the 506th that they’d captured “four Asians in German uniform”. While this was technically true, the 506th mistakenly believed the four men (Yang included) were Japanese. In reality, three of the men hailed from Turkestan while Yang, as already noted, was of Korean heritage.Unable to communicate with Yang due to him not being fluent in either English or German, Yang was sent to yet another POW camp, this time in Britain, where he mercifully remained until the end of the war.
When WW2 ended, Yang chose not to return home, but instead immigrated to the United States where once again his story becomes hazy. He eventually ended up settling in Cook County, Illinois where he quietly passed away in 1992."
https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/yang-kyoungjong-1944/
Thanks for mentioning me LTC Ivan Raiklin, Esq.
FYI :COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. Capt Seid Waddell Capt Tom Brown SFC William Farrell SSgt Robert Marx Maj Marty Hogan PO1 William "Chip" Nagel SPC Margaret Higgins MSgt Jason McClish AN Christopher Crayne LTC Bill Koski SPC Tom DeSmet SGT Charles H. Hawes LTC Wayne Brandon SGT (Join to see)
Yang Kyoungjong, the only known soldier to have fought on three sides of a war, 1944
Yang Kyoungjong, a Korean who is the only known man to have fought in the Imperial Japanese Army, the Soviet Army and the German Wehrmacht.
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Sad. Thank you for sharing
COL Mikel J. Burroughs SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SMSgt Minister Gerald A. "Doc" Thomas LTC Stephen F. SFC Mark Merino SFC George Smith SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" CPT Jack Durish SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth PO1 William "Chip" Nagel TSgt Joe C. SP5 Mark Kuzinski MSG (Join to see) SSgt (Join to see) MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS GySgt John Olson LTC Yinon Weiss MAJ (Join to see) SGM Gregory Tarancon IV
COL Mikel J. Burroughs SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SMSgt Minister Gerald A. "Doc" Thomas LTC Stephen F. SFC Mark Merino SFC George Smith SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" CPT Jack Durish SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth PO1 William "Chip" Nagel TSgt Joe C. SP5 Mark Kuzinski MSG (Join to see) SSgt (Join to see) MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS GySgt John Olson LTC Yinon Weiss MAJ (Join to see) SGM Gregory Tarancon IV
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Wow this poor guy had it rough during the war but at least afterwards ended up being a free man in United States.
Thanks for sharing PFC Justin Iwamasa very interesting
Thanks for sharing PFC Justin Iwamasa very interesting
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