February 25, 2025 • 23 mins
Born in what is now North Korea, Yang Kyoungjong didn't set out to become a soldier -- but fate had other plans. In today's classic episode, Ben and Noel trace one man's journey through prisons, battlefields and multiple armies in a desperate bid to survive World War II.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ridiculous Historians. We are returning to you from far far
away with a classic episode that we think you're gonna
really dig. We've got a lot of veterans in the crowd,
and usually if you're a veteran, you fight for just
one army. And then there's this other guy.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Yeah, we're talking about Yang kyung Chong, who didn't really
set out to become a soldier, but the wheel of
fate had other plans.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
And we hope you join us in this episode from
twenty eighteen, where wherein we follow the travels of one
remarkable man through prisons, battlefields, and a gripping, harrowing experience
that ultimately leads to him fighting for not just one army,
but three armies during World War Two.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Let's roll It.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome to the show,
(01:21):
Friends and neighbors. We are going to start today on
a very down note, but we promise we will get
to a good note by the end of today's episode.
Here's the downside. World War Two was the most dangerous,
deadliest military conflict in human history in absolute terms of
(01:42):
people that died. Over sixty million people were killed, and
that was about three percent of the world population at
the time.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
That sucks.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
That's terrible. That's terrible, But that is the context in
which we find today's very strange story.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
I'm Ben, you are indeed Ben, and I A'm a
very chilled out nol very chill today, very chill today.
I'm feeling very chill, and I just want to say
props to Robert Evans from behind the bastards who put
this phrase in my head. Chock full of Nazis. I
love it, slash it terrifies.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
He has used it in the past before, has he really? Yeah,
he's got away with words. He wrote for crack dot
Com for a very long time too. I'm a big
fan of Robert Evans, but I'm also and I think
you can get with me on this one. I'm also
a big fan of super producer Casey Pegram.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
And super producer Casey Pegram is a huge fan of
military history.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Is that true, Casey, No, it's not true, Casey out
the case. I'm off the case on this one.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Guys, turn it in.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
My Badge'll tell you.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
I'll tell you what you're gonna be on soon. My
man is a T shirt.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
It's true.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Uh, Huh, you're gonna be wearing a robe and pounding
a gavel and you're gonna have a disapproving look on
your face.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Well, I think you know, when we had talked about
this off air, Casey, you were pretty excited about a
Law and Order esque type T shirt. Yeah, if we're
gonna get Sue do Oblivian for doing.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
It, No, it's fine, man, it's fine. It's fair use.
You can get that shirt when it eventually becomes a
thing at teapublic dot com slash Ridiculous History. Just putting
that out there at the top.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Yes, that's true for anyone who tossed some ideas our
way in our community page Ridiculous Historians. We do want
to confirm that was not just idle chatter and Facebook
commentary I was throwing at you. We have indeed gotten
together and started making some T shirts. We even have
(03:42):
one just for the quister, and we'd love to talk
Casey into being the inspiration for some T shirt art.
So let us know what your ideas are.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Oh no, it's happening, my friend, it's happening.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
And if you're listening to something in today's episode and
you hear a turn of phrase, or particular image pops
in your mind that you think would be a good
idea for a T shirt. Do not hesitate. Let us know.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I can't believe chok full and Nazis is already a
thing so good?
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Is it just the assonance or what is it?
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Well, now, there's a coffee brand called chock full of Nuts.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
M h.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
So when you said chock full and Nazis, that's just
that's what I picture, is like a can of coffee
with like swastikas on him.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Oh, I see, I see.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Levels we're not entirely bsing here. The Nazis do come
into play in today's story, but that's not where it begins. No,
it begins in Manchuria.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
That's right, Noel, it begins in Manchuria. In nineteen thirty eight.
There's a young man whose name we were probably not
going to pronounce correctly spoiler alert, because we are not Korean.
His name is Yang kyong Jong.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
I'm so solid man, We'll see, we'll see.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
He was eighteen years old in Manchuria and he was
conscripted by the Perial Japanese Army to fight against the
Soviet Union.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Yeah. In this little known at least to me, and
I think you were maybe tangentially aware of it. But
a conflict called a couple of different things. The Russians
referred to it as the Battle of Kulkan Gaul, and
then the Japanese side referred to it as something else.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
The Nomenhan incident.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
There you go, Yeah, what was the incident? What was
the beef?
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Well, first, I want to point out that the Battle
of Kulkan Goal sounds like a spin off of a
Tolkien book, you know what.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
I mean, Yeah, like something from Doune.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
And that's why for the title alone, I'm going with
the Russian side on this one. But it was a
series of conflicts, as you said, that were undeclared between
the Soviet and Japanese forces do entirely disagreements about borders,
and they were fought along the Soviet Union, Mongolia, Japan
and Manchuko from lake across the year in nineteen thirty nine.
(06:04):
And this this mainly happened because these two forces were
attempting to expand their territory and their reach. The Japanese
forces maintained that the border between Manchuko and Mongolia was
this river, the Kalkan Gol or in English, the Calca River,
(06:24):
which flows into Lake Ur. But the Mongolians, who were
allied with the Soviet forces, said that the border was
actually sixteen kilometers or almost ten miles east of the river,
just east of the No Monhan village.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
And this wasn't just a little scrap, my friend. Upwards
of fifty thousand men, or as Cotton Flynn would say,
fifty thousand men were killed. No small potatoes, man. But
you know who wasn't killed is are the hero. I'm
gonna call him the hero because I think he's a
total hero.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
He's the protagonist for sure.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah, he was not killed, thankfully. He was in fact
captured by the Russians and sent to a labor camp,
and then he was drafted into the Russian Army.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
And there are two reasons for this. So when he
was originally conscripted by the Imperial Japanese Army, he became
part of a pretty hardcore fighting force called the Kwantung Army.
This was the largest and most prestigious command in the
Japanese Army, so he already had some experience right as
(07:34):
an unwilling soldier. And the second factor that led to
his conscription again, his second conscription was that the Soviet
Union had a terrible, terrible, terrible problem with manpower.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Yeah they were short staffed.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Yeah, that barely even begins to cover it. They were
so desperate, in fact, that they were taking anyone, you know,
so they can scripted this guy, do you want to
stay in a gulag? Or do you want to fight
for the glory of Mother Russia? Yeah? Sure, easy, easy,
easy call. Have you ever been in a gulag?
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Doesn't sound nice?
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Yeah, you get it. So they were forcing anyone they
could find to join up with the Soviet military. And
young does this for what about a year?
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Noel, right, because you see, this was right on the
cusp of a little little scrap we like to call
World War Two. The previous episode, we talked about the
Nazis use of soccer, American soccer football as a propaganda tool.
We talked about this idea of appeasement and how the
(08:43):
Allies kind of kept Latin Hitler do his thing, Latin
to do his thing is he's gonna be fine, he's
gonna chill out. Finally he invades Poland and that's just
a bridge too far. And then here.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
We are, right, because you're in the Pacific and Eurasian theater,
or even before the wars breaking out, we see these tensions,
these undeclared conflicts ratcheting up, and Yang is caught in
the middle of it. So, just to keep track, he
was not Japanese, but he got drafted to the Japanese Army,
he got captured, and then he got drafted to the
(09:16):
Russian Army, and he in nineteen forty two, who was
fighting in what they called the Red Army, he was
sent to the Eastern Front of Europe, was there for
a year, but then in nineteen forty three, during the
Third Battle of Karkhov, he gets captured by Wehrmont soldiers,
(09:37):
by German soldiers.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Yeah, that's right. They were called the Ost Battalion, which
means East Battalion. Great article on not the most creative
website name but rare historical photos dot com has more
than a photo. It's got a real nice photo of
who we think this young man was. And it's very
intense because he just has a real, real hangdog look
(09:59):
on his face, and he's so young, he's so young,
and the kid, the kid next to him, it looks
even younger. He looks like he's like fifteen. It's crazy.
So but yeah, there's some good information on the site.
I recommend checking it out. It's's called Young Kyung jong,
the only known soldier to have fought on three sides
of a war in nineteen forty four. Spoilers, right, what
side he was next? What was the what side came next? Then?
Speaker 1 (10:25):
So after he is captured by the Germans side, they
first off, they apparently don't bother with asking him how
he came to end up fighting in Ukraine for the Soviets. Right,
It's very likely that had circumstances been different, he would
(10:46):
have been executed, right, because the Nazis at this time
were not in the habit of allowing prisoners to volunteer
to serve in the army.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Yeah, and she weren't they down with that whole white
supremacist master race thing. Hmmm, and they want to keep
it pure.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Well in this At this point in the conflict, they
were willing to take almost anyone who would throw in
for the cause, just another body to put in front
of the bullets, you know.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
But they weren't like lou They weren't getting their asses
handed to them at this point. Yeah, this is just
the beginning of the war, they were still quite strong.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Right, but an experienced soldier is still an asset, that's true.
And so because they had fallen into the habit of
allowing again air quotes, allowing people to air quotes volunteer
for this, Yang was conscripted to fight and that East
Battalion or how.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Do you say it, no ost Battalion.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Perfect, thank you, man in the seven hundred and nine
Infantry Division of the Vermont. And these battalions were small
groups of men that were all volunteers quote unquote, volunteers
from the different regions of Europe that the Nazi regime controlled.
They were folded into larger units of German soldiers to
(12:03):
serve as shock troops and back up to more experienced battalions.
You can find this right up to on todayifound out
dot com by Carl Smallwood site. Yeah, I've been digging
it as well, highly recommended. We don't know who they are,
we just think they do fun stuff. So there he is.
Now he's in this other army. What happens next?
Speaker 2 (12:26):
So now he's gonna fight for his Reich to party, huh,
I'll allow it. Thank you, Ben, You're very kind in
nineteen forty four. He gets sent to France where he's
going to join the wire marks Host battalion, and there
are tons of Soviet prisoners, much the same way that
(12:50):
he was conscripted by the Japanese. Very similar deal. Right,
it becomes kind of like slave labor, right, or like
slave soldiers.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Yeah, they're not forced. He's saying join or die, maybe
as explicitly but seems implied. But yeah, to quote Dennis
Reynolds from It's Always sunny in Philadelphia, there's the implication.
So we have to admit it's not as if this
kid was just rare and to go for war. He
was trying to stay alive and had done it successfully.
So he goes to this cotinin peninsula in France, shortly
(13:23):
before the Allies attempt to storm the beaches in an
historical event known today as today Today. That's right d Day,
where the Allied troops are storming the beaches at France.
You've seen it depicted in so many war films here
in the West. Well, it turns out this kid is
(13:46):
on the other side, the Axis side, and he's trying
to prevent the Allies from storming the beaches.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Yeah, he's defending it on behalf of the Nazis, and
he he gets captured again.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
He gets captured again. I can tell you quick aside.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Just something I learned from today I found out dot
com was that the actor who played Scottie on Star Trek,
his name's James Douhan. He was among the Canadian soldiers
who stormed the beach at Normandy and he got shot
six times. Believe he lost a finger, got shot through
(14:26):
the hand, several shots in the leg, and one in
the chest. That would have ended his life if it
hadn't a been for this age old movie trope. What
do you think it was, ben age old movie trope?
What saved his life?
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Oh? Was it a Bible? Was it a flask?
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Cigarette case?
Speaker 1 (14:43):
It was a cigarette cass?
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Okay, So I just I love that because it's such
a trope, and it's a trope because gosh darn it
that it happens.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
So the Germans eventually get overrun. This is not all
entirely US propaganda. It really does happen. The German are
eventually getting overrun by the Allies, and this time Yang
is captured again, but this time by the Americans and
Kid can't catch a break, his kid, Can I catch
(15:12):
a break? Or maybe he's catching all the breaks. It's
you know, it's an interesting question. It's kind of a
half full, half empty glass thing.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Right, It's a very Forest Gumpian kind of situation. He's
still alive, right, He's alive.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
At this point, So that's that is I think the
probably his number one priority at that point. But there's
a wrinkle. There's a problem here. When he's captured. He
can't speak German, he can't speak English. The officers who
originally found him and captured him, among them, there was
Lieutenant Robert Brewer of the five h sixth Parachute Infantry Regiment,
(15:49):
one hundred first Airborne and he thought that this guy
was a Japanese soldier in a German uniform. And he reported,
somewhat puzzled that regiment had captured four Asian people in
German uniform and that no one could talk to them,
and so they just sent them to a pow camp
(16:10):
in England.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Oh, and I believe they were ethnic Georgians, isn't that right?
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Right? Yeah, that's that's the current. That's the current debate,
because you could see how someone from the West without
experience in this part of the world or these cultures
might just quickly categorize them, you know what I mean,
totally and and it's like there are there's only one
type of person that I could think of who would
be here and looks like this, they must be Japanese.
(16:37):
Take them away, book them, dan oh oh.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
I actually have it here as that they were from Turkestan.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Turkestan, okay, so still in Eurasia because I found I
found that they were from Georgian descent.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Interesting, Yeah, there's there's not This is kind of a
murky story. It's a it's a lot of a lot
of hearsay, and not much as known about this young
man's life prior to, you know, being conscripted into the
Japanese army. Little but what is known is that he
(17:09):
didn't stick around after the war ended, he alorady didn't
go back home either. He went to America.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Yeah, he was transferred to a prison camp in the US,
and then he was released from captivity in nineteen forty
seven and he said, you know what, I'm going to
stay here.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Yeah, land of opportunity and all that.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
He moved to Illinois and lived there. Cool yeah, and.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
That's where out the county, right, Yeah, which is is
that Chicago area?
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Yeah? Yeah, Chicago area. And again I don't I don't
know if you've found anything on this, but I found
that his life gets murky again. He sort of falls
from the historical record.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Yeah, that's where the story ends, at least as far
as rare historical photos is concerned. They say that they
found that he quietly passed away in nineteen ninety two,
but there's really not much information about what he did
with the rest of his life. But man, you look
at the picture of what who was supposedly this young dude.
(18:12):
He has seen some.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
He's got that thousand league stare so common with people
who have experienced PTSD or traumatic events. But there's a
little bit of a fictional side to this that he
would have enjoyed had he gotten the chance to experience it.
There was a film made about his journey called My
(18:35):
Way in two thousand and eleven, and it's entirely based
on Yang Kyong Jong's I don't want to say adventures, nol.
His experience is hopping from one army to another all
the way to Illinois. Can you imagine the stories this
guy must have Nope? Can you also? Also? Additionally, could
(18:58):
you imagine going to see a movie that was inspired
by true events in your life? Would you do it
or would you want to skip it?
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Like go see my movie? Yeah, I think it'd be cool.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
I think it depends on who plays like I would
want to know who played me.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Well, I would obviously have final say on that.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
I think we have to.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
This came up on movie Crush, the mini crushes that
I do with our buddy Chuck from Stuff You Should Know.
A listener asked who we would get to play ourselves
in our movie. Chuck said he would get Jack Black
to play him. Cool, I said, I want Bradley Cooper
to play me, and I want him to really do
some acting, man, you know, put on some pounds, you know,
(19:40):
do the work. Put in the work. Bradley Cooper, I
want to see your chops.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Nevermond say, hey, let me know who you would want
to play you in a film adaptation of your life
or a really interesting story in your life. I always
think that's an interesting question. I've never I've never saw anyone.
I would just play myself. There's the technology where I
could play the young.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
You don't have the time, man, Well, you got too
much going on.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
We'll make the time. We'll make the time. I'll do
it animated.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Well, speaking of making time, why don't we make a
little time for some listener mail?
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Yes, listen to mail. I'm not gonna do that voice
the whole time. But we do want to say thank
you to Aaron who wrote to us on Facebook and said,
wasn't there talk about you guys having some ridiculous history
T shirts made? Is this actually in the works? And
then while we're in the thread, I asked you, if
you were on ridiculous Historians to suggest some cool T
(20:41):
shirt ideas, and I'd like to No, I'd like to
just laundry list a few of these. Did you see this? No?
Speaker 2 (20:46):
I didn't surprise me.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
All right, So Aaron says, didn't you guys throw out
the idea for a squatched T shirt using sasquatch as
a verb. I think it's a home run. You got
squatched son, Yeah, And then Oliver says a bear with
super dilated pupils holding a honey jar with skull and
crossbones for hallucinogenic honey, and then all caps for sure,
(21:08):
Napoleon getting attacked by rabbits.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
I love all of these.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
These are great, these these folks are you guys are
knocking it out of the park. And then we've had
people go through and list things that they thought were
T shirt worthies, such as the West Point eggnog Riot,
the gold Rush egg War, Harvey Wiley's poison Squad. The
list goes on. So thank you to everybody who wrote
(21:32):
in it, and please feel free to jump on that
thread and give us more of your suggestions. Hashtag poison squad,
poison squad.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Okay, I got one here. Subject is yeah, my ears
are happy.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
I know this one.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Yeah, yeah. So our buddy Jacob w had written to
us previously to alert us to the fact that we
mispronounced a word that particularly triggered him and sent him
into a blind rage. But thankfully he seems to chilled out.
Portmanteau pronounced correctly. And I know it was me Man,
It was me, I said port Man too. I don't
(22:07):
know why I know how to pronounce it. I just
got caught up in the moment.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Oh, you're beating yourself up, he says.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
I don't know if it was my pedantry in the
message it was I sent you all from your site,
or if there were more of us bothered by that
little detail. Either way, it shows that you do listen,
we do, and you're willing to change. We are sometimes
admirable traits my boys. That was my interjection to my boys,
keep up the good work.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Well, thank you so much for writing in. This concludes
our listener mail, but not our show. Tune in for
our next episode, when we look at the vital role
potatoes played in World War Two. In the meantime, you
can find us on Instagram. You can find us on Facebook,
(22:56):
you can find us on Twitter. You can summon us
at a crossroads at midnight say our names three times
into an unlip mirror.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
No, that's for the other show.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Well, I mean that's how I get around. Okay, cool, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
You do you my man. And hey, we totally forgot
to give our thankes on the last episode because we
were so taken by Robert Evans's glorious extra credit segment.
So literally, nothing we can do about the past, but
we are now in the present, at which time I
would like to thank We would like to thank super
producer Casey Pegram Alex Williams, who composed our theme.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Our researchers eve's Jeff Coate and Christopher Hasiotis as well
of course, as you. Thanks so much for tuning.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
In, folks, See you next time. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.
Ridiculous Historians. We are returning to you from far far
away with a classic episode that we think you're gonna
really dig. We've got a lot of veterans in the crowd,
and usually if you're a veteran, you fight for just
one army. And then there's this other guy.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Yeah, we're talking about Yang kyung Chong, who didn't really
set out to become a soldier, but the wheel of
fate had other plans.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
And we hope you join us in this episode from
twenty eighteen, where wherein we follow the travels of one
remarkable man through prisons, battlefields, and a gripping, harrowing experience
that ultimately leads to him fighting for not just one army,
but three armies during World War Two.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Let's roll It.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome to the show,
(01:21):
Friends and neighbors. We are going to start today on
a very down note, but we promise we will get
to a good note by the end of today's episode.
Here's the downside. World War Two was the most dangerous,
deadliest military conflict in human history in absolute terms of
(01:42):
people that died. Over sixty million people were killed, and
that was about three percent of the world population at
the time.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
That sucks.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
That's terrible. That's terrible, But that is the context in
which we find today's very strange story.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
I'm Ben, you are indeed Ben, and I A'm a
very chilled out nol very chill today, very chill today.
I'm feeling very chill, and I just want to say
props to Robert Evans from behind the bastards who put
this phrase in my head. Chock full of Nazis. I
love it, slash it terrifies.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
He has used it in the past before, has he really? Yeah,
he's got away with words. He wrote for crack dot
Com for a very long time too. I'm a big
fan of Robert Evans, but I'm also and I think
you can get with me on this one. I'm also
a big fan of super producer Casey Pegram.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
And super producer Casey Pegram is a huge fan of
military history.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Is that true, Casey, No, it's not true, Casey out
the case. I'm off the case on this one.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Guys, turn it in.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
My Badge'll tell you.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
I'll tell you what you're gonna be on soon. My
man is a T shirt.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
It's true.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Uh, Huh, you're gonna be wearing a robe and pounding
a gavel and you're gonna have a disapproving look on
your face.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Well, I think you know, when we had talked about
this off air, Casey, you were pretty excited about a
Law and Order esque type T shirt. Yeah, if we're
gonna get Sue do Oblivian for doing.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
It, No, it's fine, man, it's fine. It's fair use.
You can get that shirt when it eventually becomes a
thing at teapublic dot com slash Ridiculous History. Just putting
that out there at the top.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Yes, that's true for anyone who tossed some ideas our
way in our community page Ridiculous Historians. We do want
to confirm that was not just idle chatter and Facebook
commentary I was throwing at you. We have indeed gotten
together and started making some T shirts. We even have
(03:42):
one just for the quister, and we'd love to talk
Casey into being the inspiration for some T shirt art.
So let us know what your ideas are.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Oh no, it's happening, my friend, it's happening.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
And if you're listening to something in today's episode and
you hear a turn of phrase, or particular image pops
in your mind that you think would be a good
idea for a T shirt. Do not hesitate. Let us know.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I can't believe chok full and Nazis is already a
thing so good?
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Is it just the assonance or what is it?
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Well, now, there's a coffee brand called chock full of Nuts.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
M h.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
So when you said chock full and Nazis, that's just
that's what I picture, is like a can of coffee
with like swastikas on him.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Oh, I see, I see.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Levels we're not entirely bsing here. The Nazis do come
into play in today's story, but that's not where it begins. No,
it begins in Manchuria.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
That's right, Noel, it begins in Manchuria. In nineteen thirty eight.
There's a young man whose name we were probably not
going to pronounce correctly spoiler alert, because we are not Korean.
His name is Yang kyong Jong.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
I'm so solid man, We'll see, we'll see.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
He was eighteen years old in Manchuria and he was
conscripted by the Perial Japanese Army to fight against the
Soviet Union.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Yeah. In this little known at least to me, and
I think you were maybe tangentially aware of it. But
a conflict called a couple of different things. The Russians
referred to it as the Battle of Kulkan Gaul, and
then the Japanese side referred to it as something else.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
The Nomenhan incident.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
There you go, Yeah, what was the incident? What was
the beef?
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Well, first, I want to point out that the Battle
of Kulkan Goal sounds like a spin off of a
Tolkien book, you know what.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
I mean, Yeah, like something from Doune.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
And that's why for the title alone, I'm going with
the Russian side on this one. But it was a
series of conflicts, as you said, that were undeclared between
the Soviet and Japanese forces do entirely disagreements about borders,
and they were fought along the Soviet Union, Mongolia, Japan
and Manchuko from lake across the year in nineteen thirty nine.
(06:04):
And this this mainly happened because these two forces were
attempting to expand their territory and their reach. The Japanese
forces maintained that the border between Manchuko and Mongolia was
this river, the Kalkan Gol or in English, the Calca River,
(06:24):
which flows into Lake Ur. But the Mongolians, who were
allied with the Soviet forces, said that the border was
actually sixteen kilometers or almost ten miles east of the river,
just east of the No Monhan village.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
And this wasn't just a little scrap, my friend. Upwards
of fifty thousand men, or as Cotton Flynn would say,
fifty thousand men were killed. No small potatoes, man. But
you know who wasn't killed is are the hero. I'm
gonna call him the hero because I think he's a
total hero.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
He's the protagonist for sure.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah, he was not killed, thankfully. He was in fact
captured by the Russians and sent to a labor camp,
and then he was drafted into the Russian Army.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
And there are two reasons for this. So when he
was originally conscripted by the Imperial Japanese Army, he became
part of a pretty hardcore fighting force called the Kwantung Army.
This was the largest and most prestigious command in the
Japanese Army, so he already had some experience right as
(07:34):
an unwilling soldier. And the second factor that led to
his conscription again, his second conscription was that the Soviet
Union had a terrible, terrible, terrible problem with manpower.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Yeah they were short staffed.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Yeah, that barely even begins to cover it. They were
so desperate, in fact, that they were taking anyone, you know,
so they can scripted this guy, do you want to
stay in a gulag? Or do you want to fight
for the glory of Mother Russia? Yeah? Sure, easy, easy,
easy call. Have you ever been in a gulag?
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Doesn't sound nice?
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Yeah, you get it. So they were forcing anyone they
could find to join up with the Soviet military. And
young does this for what about a year?
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Noel, right, because you see, this was right on the
cusp of a little little scrap we like to call
World War Two. The previous episode, we talked about the
Nazis use of soccer, American soccer football as a propaganda tool.
We talked about this idea of appeasement and how the
(08:43):
Allies kind of kept Latin Hitler do his thing, Latin
to do his thing is he's gonna be fine, he's
gonna chill out. Finally he invades Poland and that's just
a bridge too far. And then here.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
We are, right, because you're in the Pacific and Eurasian theater,
or even before the wars breaking out, we see these tensions,
these undeclared conflicts ratcheting up, and Yang is caught in
the middle of it. So, just to keep track, he
was not Japanese, but he got drafted to the Japanese Army,
he got captured, and then he got drafted to the
(09:16):
Russian Army, and he in nineteen forty two, who was
fighting in what they called the Red Army, he was
sent to the Eastern Front of Europe, was there for
a year, but then in nineteen forty three, during the
Third Battle of Karkhov, he gets captured by Wehrmont soldiers,
(09:37):
by German soldiers.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Yeah, that's right. They were called the Ost Battalion, which
means East Battalion. Great article on not the most creative
website name but rare historical photos dot com has more
than a photo. It's got a real nice photo of
who we think this young man was. And it's very
intense because he just has a real, real hangdog look
(09:59):
on his face, and he's so young, he's so young,
and the kid, the kid next to him, it looks
even younger. He looks like he's like fifteen. It's crazy.
So but yeah, there's some good information on the site.
I recommend checking it out. It's's called Young Kyung jong,
the only known soldier to have fought on three sides
of a war in nineteen forty four. Spoilers, right, what
side he was next? What was the what side came next? Then?
Speaker 1 (10:25):
So after he is captured by the Germans side, they
first off, they apparently don't bother with asking him how
he came to end up fighting in Ukraine for the Soviets. Right,
It's very likely that had circumstances been different, he would
(10:46):
have been executed, right, because the Nazis at this time
were not in the habit of allowing prisoners to volunteer
to serve in the army.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Yeah, and she weren't they down with that whole white
supremacist master race thing. Hmmm, and they want to keep
it pure.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Well in this At this point in the conflict, they
were willing to take almost anyone who would throw in
for the cause, just another body to put in front
of the bullets, you know.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
But they weren't like lou They weren't getting their asses
handed to them at this point. Yeah, this is just
the beginning of the war, they were still quite strong.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Right, but an experienced soldier is still an asset, that's true.
And so because they had fallen into the habit of
allowing again air quotes, allowing people to air quotes volunteer
for this, Yang was conscripted to fight and that East
Battalion or how.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Do you say it, no ost Battalion.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Perfect, thank you, man in the seven hundred and nine
Infantry Division of the Vermont. And these battalions were small
groups of men that were all volunteers quote unquote, volunteers
from the different regions of Europe that the Nazi regime controlled.
They were folded into larger units of German soldiers to
(12:03):
serve as shock troops and back up to more experienced battalions.
You can find this right up to on todayifound out
dot com by Carl Smallwood site. Yeah, I've been digging
it as well, highly recommended. We don't know who they are,
we just think they do fun stuff. So there he is.
Now he's in this other army. What happens next?
Speaker 2 (12:26):
So now he's gonna fight for his Reich to party, huh,
I'll allow it. Thank you, Ben, You're very kind in
nineteen forty four. He gets sent to France where he's
going to join the wire marks Host battalion, and there
are tons of Soviet prisoners, much the same way that
(12:50):
he was conscripted by the Japanese. Very similar deal. Right,
it becomes kind of like slave labor, right, or like
slave soldiers.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Yeah, they're not forced. He's saying join or die, maybe
as explicitly but seems implied. But yeah, to quote Dennis
Reynolds from It's Always sunny in Philadelphia, there's the implication.
So we have to admit it's not as if this
kid was just rare and to go for war. He
was trying to stay alive and had done it successfully.
So he goes to this cotinin peninsula in France, shortly
(13:23):
before the Allies attempt to storm the beaches in an
historical event known today as today Today. That's right d Day,
where the Allied troops are storming the beaches at France.
You've seen it depicted in so many war films here
in the West. Well, it turns out this kid is
(13:46):
on the other side, the Axis side, and he's trying
to prevent the Allies from storming the beaches.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Yeah, he's defending it on behalf of the Nazis, and
he he gets captured again.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
He gets captured again. I can tell you quick aside.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Just something I learned from today I found out dot
com was that the actor who played Scottie on Star Trek,
his name's James Douhan. He was among the Canadian soldiers
who stormed the beach at Normandy and he got shot
six times. Believe he lost a finger, got shot through
(14:26):
the hand, several shots in the leg, and one in
the chest. That would have ended his life if it
hadn't a been for this age old movie trope. What
do you think it was, ben age old movie trope?
What saved his life?
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Oh? Was it a Bible? Was it a flask?
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Cigarette case?
Speaker 1 (14:43):
It was a cigarette cass?
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Okay, So I just I love that because it's such
a trope, and it's a trope because gosh darn it
that it happens.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
So the Germans eventually get overrun. This is not all
entirely US propaganda. It really does happen. The German are
eventually getting overrun by the Allies, and this time Yang
is captured again, but this time by the Americans and
Kid can't catch a break, his kid, Can I catch
(15:12):
a break? Or maybe he's catching all the breaks. It's
you know, it's an interesting question. It's kind of a
half full, half empty glass thing.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Right, It's a very Forest Gumpian kind of situation. He's
still alive, right, He's alive.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
At this point, So that's that is I think the
probably his number one priority at that point. But there's
a wrinkle. There's a problem here. When he's captured. He
can't speak German, he can't speak English. The officers who
originally found him and captured him, among them, there was
Lieutenant Robert Brewer of the five h sixth Parachute Infantry Regiment,
(15:49):
one hundred first Airborne and he thought that this guy
was a Japanese soldier in a German uniform. And he reported,
somewhat puzzled that regiment had captured four Asian people in
German uniform and that no one could talk to them,
and so they just sent them to a pow camp
(16:10):
in England.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Oh, and I believe they were ethnic Georgians, isn't that right?
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Right? Yeah, that's that's the current. That's the current debate,
because you could see how someone from the West without
experience in this part of the world or these cultures
might just quickly categorize them, you know what I mean,
totally and and it's like there are there's only one
type of person that I could think of who would
be here and looks like this, they must be Japanese.
(16:37):
Take them away, book them, dan oh oh.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
I actually have it here as that they were from Turkestan.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Turkestan, okay, so still in Eurasia because I found I
found that they were from Georgian descent.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Interesting, Yeah, there's there's not This is kind of a
murky story. It's a it's a lot of a lot
of hearsay, and not much as known about this young
man's life prior to, you know, being conscripted into the
Japanese army. Little but what is known is that he
(17:09):
didn't stick around after the war ended, he alorady didn't
go back home either. He went to America.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Yeah, he was transferred to a prison camp in the US,
and then he was released from captivity in nineteen forty
seven and he said, you know what, I'm going to
stay here.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Yeah, land of opportunity and all that.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
He moved to Illinois and lived there. Cool yeah, and.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
That's where out the county, right, Yeah, which is is
that Chicago area?
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Yeah? Yeah, Chicago area. And again I don't I don't
know if you've found anything on this, but I found
that his life gets murky again. He sort of falls
from the historical record.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Yeah, that's where the story ends, at least as far
as rare historical photos is concerned. They say that they
found that he quietly passed away in nineteen ninety two,
but there's really not much information about what he did
with the rest of his life. But man, you look
at the picture of what who was supposedly this young dude.
(18:12):
He has seen some.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
He's got that thousand league stare so common with people
who have experienced PTSD or traumatic events. But there's a
little bit of a fictional side to this that he
would have enjoyed had he gotten the chance to experience it.
There was a film made about his journey called My
(18:35):
Way in two thousand and eleven, and it's entirely based
on Yang Kyong Jong's I don't want to say adventures, nol.
His experience is hopping from one army to another all
the way to Illinois. Can you imagine the stories this
guy must have Nope? Can you also? Also? Additionally, could
(18:58):
you imagine going to see a movie that was inspired
by true events in your life? Would you do it
or would you want to skip it?
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Like go see my movie? Yeah, I think it'd be cool.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
I think it depends on who plays like I would
want to know who played me.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Well, I would obviously have final say on that.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
I think we have to.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
This came up on movie Crush, the mini crushes that
I do with our buddy Chuck from Stuff You Should Know.
A listener asked who we would get to play ourselves
in our movie. Chuck said he would get Jack Black
to play him. Cool, I said, I want Bradley Cooper
to play me, and I want him to really do
some acting, man, you know, put on some pounds, you know,
(19:40):
do the work. Put in the work. Bradley Cooper, I
want to see your chops.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Nevermond say, hey, let me know who you would want
to play you in a film adaptation of your life
or a really interesting story in your life. I always
think that's an interesting question. I've never I've never saw anyone.
I would just play myself. There's the technology where I
could play the young.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
You don't have the time, man, Well, you got too
much going on.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
We'll make the time. We'll make the time. I'll do
it animated.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Well, speaking of making time, why don't we make a
little time for some listener mail?
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Yes, listen to mail. I'm not gonna do that voice
the whole time. But we do want to say thank
you to Aaron who wrote to us on Facebook and said,
wasn't there talk about you guys having some ridiculous history
T shirts made? Is this actually in the works? And
then while we're in the thread, I asked you, if
you were on ridiculous Historians to suggest some cool T
(20:41):
shirt ideas, and I'd like to No, I'd like to
just laundry list a few of these. Did you see this? No?
Speaker 2 (20:46):
I didn't surprise me.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
All right, So Aaron says, didn't you guys throw out
the idea for a squatched T shirt using sasquatch as
a verb. I think it's a home run. You got
squatched son, Yeah, And then Oliver says a bear with
super dilated pupils holding a honey jar with skull and
crossbones for hallucinogenic honey, and then all caps for sure,
(21:08):
Napoleon getting attacked by rabbits.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
I love all of these.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
These are great, these these folks are you guys are
knocking it out of the park. And then we've had
people go through and list things that they thought were
T shirt worthies, such as the West Point eggnog Riot,
the gold Rush egg War, Harvey Wiley's poison Squad. The
list goes on. So thank you to everybody who wrote
(21:32):
in it, and please feel free to jump on that
thread and give us more of your suggestions. Hashtag poison squad,
poison squad.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Okay, I got one here. Subject is yeah, my ears
are happy.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
I know this one.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Yeah, yeah. So our buddy Jacob w had written to
us previously to alert us to the fact that we
mispronounced a word that particularly triggered him and sent him
into a blind rage. But thankfully he seems to chilled out.
Portmanteau pronounced correctly. And I know it was me Man,
It was me, I said port Man too. I don't
(22:07):
know why I know how to pronounce it. I just
got caught up in the moment.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Oh, you're beating yourself up, he says.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
I don't know if it was my pedantry in the
message it was I sent you all from your site,
or if there were more of us bothered by that
little detail. Either way, it shows that you do listen,
we do, and you're willing to change. We are sometimes
admirable traits my boys. That was my interjection to my boys,
keep up the good work.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Well, thank you so much for writing in. This concludes
our listener mail, but not our show. Tune in for
our next episode, when we look at the vital role
potatoes played in World War Two. In the meantime, you
can find us on Instagram. You can find us on Facebook,
(22:56):
you can find us on Twitter. You can summon us
at a crossroads at midnight say our names three times
into an unlip mirror.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
No, that's for the other show.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Well, I mean that's how I get around. Okay, cool, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
You do you my man. And hey, we totally forgot
to give our thankes on the last episode because we
were so taken by Robert Evans's glorious extra credit segment.
So literally, nothing we can do about the past, but
we are now in the present, at which time I
would like to thank We would like to thank super
producer Casey Pegram Alex Williams, who composed our theme.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Our researchers eve's Jeff Coate and Christopher Hasiotis as well
of course, as you. Thanks so much for tuning.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
In, folks, See you next time. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.
Ridiculous History News
Hosts And Creators
Ben Bowlin
Noel Brown
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