THE STORY OF RODGER YOUNG

 

                 By BILL JUNEAU

                         Way back in the 1940s, as World War II was raging in the Pacific,  Private Rodger Young became nationally known for his heroism on the God-forsaken island of New Georgia in the Solomons.  Perhaps Veterans Day this November is a good time to remember this veteran and how he gave his life for his fellow soldiers and for the country he loved.

                                                  Maybe only about one in every 10,000 have ever heard the name of  Rodger Young or know of his valor and how he saved 19 other members of his platoon which had been ambushed and hemmed in by the Japanese on the jungle-like island for which the Japanese were fighting for control.  

                                                  Roger was  five-feet, two-inches tall, afflicted with severe vision and hearing losses when he destroyed an enemy machine gun pill-box.  He was killed on July 31, 1943, and in the days and months following, as America learned of his bravery, he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.  In his home state of Ohio, Governor Frank J. Lausche  declared March 25 as "Roger Young Day,"  and the city of Fremont,  renamed its Water Works Park the "Rodger W. Young park." The Night Infiltration Course at Fort Benning, Georgia also is named for Rodger as is a small arms firing range at Camp Perry in Ohio.  

                                                The "Ballad of Rodger Young" was written by a fellow soldier, Pvt. Frank Loesser, and the ballad was recorded by several popular singers of the day. Loesser subsequently achieved broad notoriety for his lyrics in various musicals, including Guys and Dolls, and How to Succeed in Business without really trying.

                                    Born in Tiffin, Ohio, Rodger Wilton Young was small in stature, just 62 inches in height. Growing up, more than anything, he wanted to be an athlete.  In his sophomore year in high school, Rodger made the basketball team, but being exceptionally short, sat far down on the bench. He got into a game that year, but suffered a serious head injury which impaired his vision and his hearing.  Those senses deteriorated as time passed and troubled by the injury, he left high school after completion of his second year.                                          In 1938, at 20 years old, Rodger attempted to join the army, but his height, sight and hearing did not bode well.   "Sorry Rodger," he was told, your eyes, and ears are sub par and your height of just over five feet is problematic. 

                                    Though discouraged, and wanting to earn a salary, he offered himself to the Ohio National Guard and to his surprise, was accepted. Others chided him as being a little squirt with problems, and he was sometimes called "old 62," as a reference to his height, but other soldiers liked him and the nickname was delivered with affection. As the months and years passed, he was promoted to corporal and then to staff sergeant, and he wore the  chevron. "three up and a rocker," on the sleeve of his uniforms with pride.   

                                    The Japanese attacked the United States on  December, 7, 1941, and in 1942, Sgt. Young's national guard unit was activated and deployed to the Fiji islands and in 1943, his platoon was sent to the Solomon Islands to engage the Japanese in the swampy, jungle-like terrain  on the island of New Georgia. 
                                    Rodger was a non-commissioned officer who possessed a lion's love for the military. The war was raging and soldiers sailors and marines were dying in bloody battles to prevent advances by the armies of Japan which designated New Georgia as a key location to have and hold. 
                                     Young was reluctant to serve in a position of command because of his concern that his sight and hearing was deteriorating and would be a detriment to his leadership, and would be a liability for fellow soldiers under his command. The army doctor agreed and reported that his impairment was severe. To compensate for this,  he requested a demotion to the rank of Private, to allow him to fight, but under the command of other non-commissioned and commissioned officers.
                                    Reluctantly, his commanding officer granted his requested demotion, but there was concern that the unit's most diminutive soldier was angling to avoid dangerous combat. Other enlisted men felt the same, and often let him know of those feelings.  But they were wrong about Rodger Young. 
                                    On the 31st of July, 1943, Young's company of 20 soldiers was hemmed in by an enemy machine gun 75 yards away, and a bullet had struck and wounded Young. The platoon appeared to be  doomed and had no where to go. Though wounded,  Young had other thoughts as he plunged onto the swampy waters with his heavy backpack and a rifle and a pocket full of grenades and began moving toward the pillbox..  
                                    He was hit again with bullets as he maneuvered his way, and he seemed done, but then he began moving and he kept going. He was hit again and though mortally wounded,  began lobbing grenades which took down the machine gun. He gave his life so that other soldiers could survive and eventually defeat the Japanese on  that bleak, desolate chunk of land in the Solomons.

                                   His platoon was safe, but comrades  were saddened by the death of "old 62".  A simple wooden  cross was affixed on a rocky slope near where he was killed on New Georgia, and some say that the cross or reportedly, some artifice, remains there for visitors (if there are any) to see.  

                                    The story of Rodger Young was in headlines though out the nation and the Ballad  by Frank Loesser  was played often on the radio.  A short film was made depicting the story of Rodger Young, and it was accented with the memorable words of the ballad sung by Burl Ives. The ballad has also been recorded by Nelson Eddy and Jim Reeves. 

                                     Those interested can hear the "Ballad of Rodger Young" today on "You Tube."  The words of the famous song follow:                                   

                      THE BALLAD OF RODGER YOUNG

                                            Oh, there is no time for glory in the infantry
                                            There is no time for praises loudly sung
                                             But in every soldier's heart in all the infantry
                                             Shines the name, shines the name of Rodger Young.

                                             Caught in ambush lay a company of riflemen,
                                             Just grenades against machine guns in the gloom,
                                             Caught in ambush till one of twenty riflemen
                                             Volunteered, volunteered to meet his doom                                          
                                               
                                             It was he who drew the fire of the enemy
                                                       That a company of men might live to fight
                                                       And before the deadly fire of the enemy 
                                                       Stands the man, stands the man we hail tonight. 

                                                       On the island of New Georgia in the Solomons,
                                                       Stands a simple wooden cross that's there to tell 
                                                        That beneath the silent corals of the Solomons 
                                                        Sleeps a man, sleeps a man, remembered well. 

                                                       Sleeps a man, Rodger Young,  
                                                       fought and died for the men he marched among
                                                       To the everlasting glory of the infantry, 
                                                      Shines the name, shines the name of Rodger Young.

                                                XXX