in 1943, he was captured by wehrmacht soldiers in eastern ukraine during the third battle of kharkov, and then joined the "eastern battalions" to fight for germany. yang was sent to occupied france to serve in a battalion of former soviet prisoners of war on the cotentin peninsula in normandy, close to utah beach. after the d-day landings in northern france by the allied forces, yang was captured by paratroopers of the united states army in june 1944.