Category: The Green Machine

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Real men The Green Machine This great Nation & Its People War

Dr. Dabbs – Ralph Goranson: The Real Captain Miller BY Will Dabbs

Saving Private Ryan was a simply fantastic movie.

The Movie’s Captain Miller

In 1998 Stephen Ambrose, Stephen Spielberg, and Tom Hanks debuted what is arguably the finest war movie ever made. The storyline of Saving Private Ryan was fabricated from whole cloth. While there were several actual heartrending tales of multiple brothers from the same family having been lost in combat during World War 2, the operation to task Captain Miller and his Ranger detachment to retrieve a single young paratrooper amidst the chaos of the D-Day invasion never actually happened.

This is Harrison Richard Young. He logged more than 100 film and TV credits prior to his death in 2005. I found his brief role in Saving Private Ryan to be incredibly powerful.

I’ll level with you guys, when I saw that movie for the first time in the theater I struggled to keep my composure. I had only fairly recently left the military, and I missed the brotherhood and camaraderie terribly. When the old guy at the end asked his family if he had lived a good life that just touched a visceral chord. While this particular story was indeed the product of an imaginative screenwriter, reality was all the more compelling.

Closer to Home

I knew a guy who actually did this.

Mr. Roberson was a patient of mine who was assigned to the 5th Ranger Battalion during World War 2. He hit Omaha Beach in the first wave on the morning of June 6, 1944. He actually did what was depicted in the movie. Here’s his story.

It’s one thing to see extraordinary historical events depicted in movies. It is quite another to talk to someone who was actually there.

Getting to know Mr. Roberson put a human face on the film for me. He was like so many of those great old guys—quiet, humble, and awesome. The only reason I ever found out about his military service was that I inquired about some scars on his forearm. He didn’t write a book, try to monetize his time downrange, or seek attention of any sort. He just did what it took and then came home to raise a family and be a great American.

The guys who won World War 2 and freed the world from tyranny were just cut from stouter stuff than we are today.

Likewise, the real-life inspiration for the characters in the movie was even better than what we saw on the big screen. These men, all of them young and hard, were products of the Great Depression. They left the relative comfort and security of home to travel to foreign lands and, in many cases, suffer and die so that we could enjoy the freedoms we so often take for granted today.

Background

If you haven’t yet seen Saving Private Ryan, and both of you know who you are, you need to go fix that right now.

Spoiler Alert—If you haven’t seen it already, then I’m about to ruin the plot of the movie. However, if you frequent GunsAmerica and you haven’t seen Saving Private Ryan at least twice I’ll be holding onto your man-card for safekeeping until you remedy that. Stop whatever you’re doing, surf on over to Amazon, and knock it out. It’ll take you 2 hours and 49 minutes. You’ll thank me later.

Tom Hanks’ depiction of CPT John Miller captured the essence of a competent and professional combat leader.

One of the central threads in the film orbits around Tom Hanks’ character, Captain John H. Miller. CPT Miller is universally respected by his men, even when they disagree with him. As a commander, he seems to strike the perfect balance between intimacy and aloofness, something that can be tough to do in the real world. There’s really nothing he wouldn’t do for his guys, but there is also no ambiguity regarding who is ultimately in charge. Throughout the first half of the film, there is a pool going to try to guess what CPT Miller’s profession was before the war.

Captain Miller’s mysterious backstory ends up becoming a pivotal part of the narrative.

We eventually find out that John Miller was a teacher. He is married but has no children. Just like all of them, what he really wants to do is get the war over with and go home. This revelation is one of the more poignant moments in a very poignant movie.

In the movie, CPT Miller goes out heroically for a righteous cause.

Captain Miller ultimately gives his life saving Private Ryan. He and most of his men are spent defending a critical bridge that is probably in the middle of some peaceful little French village nowadays. However, that is obviously the point. Were it not for countless Allied soldiers like Mr. Roberson who were willing to fight to the death over such stuff the death camps would still be running today.

Fact is Cooler Than Fiction

This was Ralph Goranson in his early years.
CPT Ralph Goranson exemplified the Ranger ethos.

While CPT Miller is indeed one of the most compelling characters in the film, the real guy who inspired him is all the more extraordinary. Tom Hanks’ character was based on 24-year-old CPT Ralph Goranson. Born, appropriately enough, on the 4th of July, 1919, CPT Goranson was the commander of C Company, 2d Ranger Battalion. Though my friend Mr. Roberson never mentioned him by name, he would have trained alongside CPT Goranson in the leadup to Operation Overlord.

The reality of the D-Day invasion was unimaginably gruesome.

Movie vs. Reality

In the movie, the Rangers landed on the Dog-Green section of Omaha Beach. In reality, this little piece of hell mostly fell to the grunts of the 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division. Charlie Company, 2d Rangers actually landed a few yards west of Dog-Green on a place called Charlie Section.

This is a British LCA. It was a bit more robust than an American Higgins boat but not by much.

C Company consisted of 68 Rangers, and they didn’t actually hit the beach in Higgins Boats. They rode to war aboard British Royal Navy LCA’s (Landing Craft, Attack). These British-designed boats sported a 4-man crew and carried 37 assault troops. Unlike their American counterparts, the LCA’s featured armored bulkheads and hulls along with a modest deck over their troop wells. Of the Royal Navy crews, CPT Goranson later said they, “Beached us on time in the best place, exactly per our instructions.”

It is easy to lose the power of the D-Day narrative by fixating on the big picture.

Overlord was the largest amphibious invasion in human history. However, for all its scope and power, the real story of D-Day resides in the smaller stuff. June 6, 1944, was Ranger Sergeant Walter Geldon’s third wedding anniversary. As they approached the beach, his buddies were singing in his honor to celebrate. An hour later SGT Geldon lay dead on the sand.

LTC James Rudder led the Rangers’ assault on Pointe du Hoc.

The commander of the 2d Ranger Battalion was LTC James Rudder. His guys called themselves “Rudder’s Rangers” as a result. A month before the invasion Rudder told Goranson, “You have the toughest goddamn job on the whole beach.” He wasn’t kidding.

CPT Goranson Goes to War

Like all good combat leaders, CPT Goranson led from the front.

CPT Goranson was naturally in the first British LCA. At around 0645 the defending Germans opened up on Goranson’s boat with artillery, mortars, and small arms. Four high explosive rounds struck the LCA as it landed, killing twelve Rangers outright. Many of the rest were wounded.

The first wave of the D-Day invasion was all chaos and death.

The second LCA was led by Ranger Platoon Leader LT Sidney Salomon. LT Salomon made it off the boat safely amidst a hail of machine gun fire, but the man behind him, SGT Oliver Reed, was riddled. Salomon dragged Reed through waist-deep surf onto the shingle only to be bowled over by a nearby mortar round.

It takes some rare stuff indeed to move forward in a place like this.

Advancing into hostile fire is arguably the most unnatural of all human endeavors. Seeing his Rangers becoming bogged down at the water’s edge, 1SG Steve Golas stood up and shouted, “Get your ass off this beach!” 1SG Golas was gunned down moments later.

These guys were such studs.

Rare Men

A BAR man named T/5 Jesse Runyan was shot through the groin and paralyzed from the waist down trying to cross the 300 yards of killing ground between the water’s edge and the first available cover. Despite his injuries, Runyan dragged himself forward, firing his BAR as he went. This young stud earned the Silver Star for his actions that horrible morning.

The majority of the Rangers fell prior to reaching the top of the ridge overlooking Omaha Beach.

Another nineteen Rangers were hit near the Vierville Draw. With only thirty or so Rangers left unhurt, Captain Goranson directed his men west to a modest cliff face. His guys moved three hundred yards further west to reach the roughly 100-foot cliff face. Using their bayonets as climbing aids, the Rangers scaled the cliff and emplaced a toggle rope.

Once atop the cliff the first few Rangers immediately assaulted the German defensive works. Those first three Rangers, LT Bill Moody, SGT Julius Belcher, and PFC Otto Stephens, were likely the first three Allied troops to reach the high ground overlooking Omaha Beach. LT Moody fell to a sniper soon thereafter, but LT Salomon recovered his wits enough to rejoin the attack.

CPT Goranson led the attack on the defensive positions overlooking his landing beach.

Chaos

What followed was a chaotic back-and-forth engagement ultimately decided by small arms and hand grenades. CPT Goranson led his men along with a handful of 29th ID grunts as they assaulted the defensive works, machinegun nests, and mortar emplacements that had exacted such a horrible toll on his Rangers. For the next several hours the Rangers fought their way through the maze of trenches and prepared emplacements that the Germans had constructed over the previous months.

CPT Ralph Goranson was the archetypal citizen soldier. When his nation was in need, this man answered the call.

By 1400 in the afternoon, CPT Goranson’s Rangers had killed 69 Germans in their defensive works and were ready to move inland. Goranson formed a combat patrol and pressed forward to Pointe-de-la-Percee. Later that afternoon they transitioned to Pointe du Hoc to link up with the surviving Rangers there.

General George Patton was unique in American military history. He’d never make it past Captain today.

According to Mr. Roberson, after pushing through the Bocage country in Normandy his unit subsequently went to work as a reconnaissance element for General Patton’s 3d Army. He met Patton twice himself and told me that the General’s voice had a peculiar high-pitched tone that seemed incongruous. He subsequently fought in both the Hurtgen Forest and the Battle of the Bulge.

One of the first things Ralph Goranson did after returning from World War 2 was get married. He and his wife Ruth remained together until her death in 2002.
This is the face of a true American hero.

Unlike CPT Miller in the movie, CPT Goranson actually survived the war. He later told some of his fellow Rangers, “Here’s one for Ripley. I found nine slugs and bullet holes in my gear and clothing. I didn’t get a scratch, yet so many around us have died.” He came home to Illinois to marry his sweetheart Ruth and enjoy a long, rich life, ultimately dying peacefully on November 14, 2012, at 93 years old. CPT Ralph Goranson was one of the finest Americans ever to salute the flag.

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Our Great Kids The Green Machine War

AUDIE MURPHY MANS THE GUN … BY WILL DABBS, MD

 HUNGER PANGS YIELD UNEXPECTED TREASURE

After the war, Audie Murphy went on to star in 44 different movies.

 

My wife and I were driving through Greenville, Texas, and found ourselves peckish. As we poked around for a fast food joint, we came across a fairly non-descript building situated in a wide grassy space. What caught my eye was the enormous statue out front wielding a German MG42 belt-fed machinegun like he meant it.

American presidents get sprawling libraries erected in their honor. Vapid media personalities who contribute little more than chaos find themselves ensconced in palatial digs suitable for the sultans of old. CEOs who risk nothing more than their reputations are paid enough to support a small West African nation state. And then — there was Audie Murphy.

Audie Murphy was the most highly decorated American soldier who ever drew breath. He contributed more to the cause of freedom than every movie star, social media influencer, captain of industry, General, Admiral and politician combined. This was his museum.

The facility is of modest size but is beautifully executed. Half of the place is dedicated to local history, while the other half orbits around Greenville’s favorite son. If ever you are in the neighborhood you’ll regret not checking it out.

I arrived about an hour before closing and, aside from a single museum staff member, had the place to myself. My bride broke out her oils and set up outside for a quick plein air landscape. I soon lost myself in the story of a truly great American.

The Audie Murphy Museum in Greenville, Texas, is full of cool-guy
stuff like this WWI-vintage MG08 Maxim machinegun.

It is a timeless drive for young warriors to take mementos of their military service.
Audie Murphy brought this German helmet home from the war in Europe.

Origin Story

 

The seventh of 12 children born to a sharecropper family, Audie Leon Murphy was a small man with a big heart. Abandoned by his father as a child, Audie’s mother died when he was 16. Murphy dropped out of school in fifth grade to pick cotton and keep his family from starving. Along the way he ran a rifle to help keep meat on the table.

Incensed by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Audie tried to enlist only to be rejected by the Army, Navy and Marines. The boy’s older sister falsified his birthdate so he could try again. On his enlistment physical, Murphy stood 5’5″ tall and weighed 112 lbs.

During infantry training, Audie passed out in the heat and his commander tried to have him reclassified as a cook. Private Murphy was having none of it. Through sheer force of will the young man survived his training and found himself deployed to North Africa for Operation Torch.

Audie Murphy was ultimately recognized as the most highly decorated American soldier in history.

This big guy with a big gun is what caught Doc Dabb’s eye as
he was passing through Greenville, Texas, enroute to Dallas.

War Ages A Man

 

Murphy helped take Sicily as part of Patton’s Seventh Army. It was here Audie Murphy took his first life. He later observed, “I have seen war as it actually is, and I do not like it. But I will go on fighting.”

Once on the Italian mainland, Murphy’s unit was moving along the Volturno River. Murphy along with two comrades unexpectedly came under fire from a German machinegun. One of his buddies died on the spot. Enraged, Murphy charged the enemy machinegun nest armed with a Thompson submachine gun and killed all five Germans manning the gun.

By September of 1944, Murphy was one of only three survivors of his original Infantry company not killed or removed due to wounds. Along the way, Murphy was shot in the hip and caught a piece of shrapnel in his heel. He was also wracked with malaria throughout.

By late January 1945, Murphy had been awarded a battlefield commission. While recovering from fresh wounds to both legs, his decimated unit was attacked by half a dozen German panzers and hundreds of dismounted troops. The young officer sent his soldiers to safety and advanced alone to a burning American tank destroyer.

Lt. Murphy mounted the flaming vehicle and fired his carbine until he ran out of ammunition. He then got behind the 50-caliber machinegun. Between running the Big Fifty and adjusting artillery, he singlehandedly kept the enemy tanks and infantry at bay for more than an hour. When finally he left the field, he did so at a slow walk. He later claimed he was so exhausted he didn’t care if they killed him or not. For this action, Lt. Murphy earned the Medal of Honor. He was 19 years old.

Audie Murphy received every award for valor the U.S. Army offered along with decorations from both France and Belgium. After he came home, Murphy slept with a loaded handgun under his pillow. Like so many of those old heroes, he struggled to leave the horrors of war behind. However, his fame did translate into a 21-year career as an actor, poet and a song writer. Toward the end, he fell upon hard times but steadfastly refused to appear in cigarette or alcohol commercials so as not to set a poor example for young people.

In May of 1971, Murphy was a passenger in a twin-engine Aero Commander 680 when it slammed into the side of a mountain Near Roanoke, Va., in foul weather. He was 46 at the time of his death. Murphy’s grave is the second-most visited at Arlington National Cemetery after JFK.

Where most Medal of Honor gravestones are embellished with gold leaf, Murphy insisted his be left unadorned like that of a common soldier. It still lists his birth year as 1924 in keeping with the prevarication originally attested to by his sister. What a stud.

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All About Guns The Green Machine

THE U.S. CAVALRYS OTHER HANDGUNS WRITTEN BY MIKE “DUKE” VENTURINO

 

The Colt SAA revolver only served officially for the U.S. Cavalry between 1873 and 1892, which begs the question of what other handguns served American horse soldiers before and after those years?

Mostly they were made by Colt and mostly revolvers. Although during the Civil War the federal government armed their horse soldiers with just about any revolver that could be purchased in quantity its “standard issue” was Colt’s Model 1860 Army. That was a cap and ball revolver of .44 caliber, and it was on active duty until a metallic cartridge-firing revolver was adopted circa 1870.

That first U.S. revolver taking fixed ammunition happened to be S&W’s Model No. 3, chambered for the cartridge eventually named .44 American. Its tenure was short, as was the Colt Richard’s conversion in .44 Colt caliber, the adoption of which shortly followed the S&W. Actually the government only bought 1,000 of the Smith & Wessons and 1,200 of the Colts during that time.

 

1911 Horse Soldiers

 

In 1909 the army decided to return to a .45 caliber revolver, knowing full well it was a stopgap measure because they already were set on soon adopting an autoloader. The Model 1909 was simply the Colt New Service revolver chambered for .45 Colt again. However, to make sure extraction was positive the government-loaded .45s had a wider rim by about .025″ than civilian issue .45 Colts.

When the U.S. Cavalry adopted the Colt Model 1911 they had the sidearm that stayed with them until horses were retired from active duty during World War II. That’s probably a fact somewhat hard for most Model 1911 lovers to accept — it was actually designed with horse soldiers in mind.

Here’s something interesting. Except for the .38 Colt, all of the U.S. Cavalry’s handgun cartridges were similar in power. Mostly they fired 225-to 250-grain bullets at 725 to 750 fps. There’s a fable the big .45 Colt used a 250-grain bullet over 40 grains of black powder for 900 fps. Not in government service, it didn’t. Loads for the U.S. Army contained only 30 grains of powder with those 250-grain bullets, and would have been lucky to hit 750 fps.

A box of Model 1909 military .45 Colt loads I own says velocity with 250-grain bullets was 725 fps with a plus/minus factor of 25 fps. Nominal ballistics for the .45 ACP called for a 230-grain bullet at 830 fps, but the military surplus ammo I’ve personally fired chronographed more in the 750 to 770 fps range. So there you go.

 

Tough Moros

 

It’s a little known fact the U.S. Cavalry also toyed with a single shot, cartridge-firing handgun in the early 1870s. This was the .50 caliber Remington Model 1871 using their rolling block form of action. It seems extremely odd the army issued such a handgun when revolvers had been common for decades, but then again governments have been known to do stranger things.

The Colt SAA was adopted in 1873, but S&W didn’t give up easily. They were actually able to get a remodeled No. 3 adopted as “substitute standard” by the army in the mid-1870s. In fact their shorter .45 caliber cartridge was adopted as standard issue for both Colt and S&W revolvers as early as August 1874. Since an army officer named Schofield had redesigned this S&W Model No. 3, that informal moniker has stuck. By 1880, the army tired of having two types of sixgun in service and sold the S&Ws as surplus. The S&W “Schofield” had a 7″-barrel and walnut grips.

For a dozen years the Colt SAA reigned supreme, but in 1892 the army adopted its first standard-issue DA with swing out cylinder. The Colt DA .38 in its basic form with 6″-barrel and walnut grips was standard issue for nearly as long as the big Colt .45. Its puny .38 Colt cartridge used a 150-grain bullet moving at barely 750 fps, and this revolver was official issue during the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection. As such, it no doubt saw more action than the famous Colt SAA .45 did during the Indian Wars.

After all it was the .38 Colt DA, which spawned all the stories of U.S. troopers being killed after emptying their revolvers into attacking Moro warriors during the Philippine Insurrection. That led the U.S. military into going back to a large bore handgun; at least until the mid-1980s.

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The Green Machine

Westpoint Commander Fired for Traffic Violation.

Don’t you just hate it when this happens? Grumpy (They wanted this guy gone and they now have an excuse….)

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All About Guns The Green Machine You have to be kidding, right!?!

Experimental Primer-Actuated Semiauto Springfield 1903

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The Green Machine This great Nation & Its People

Tomb Guard Earns Badge After His Final Watch

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The Green Machine This great Nation & Its People War

The Ballad Of Rodger Young (The Infantry Song)

Rodger Young

Young as a sergeant
Born April 28, 1918
Tiffin, Ohio, U.S.
Died July 31, 1943 (aged 25)
Munda, New Georgia
Place of burial
McPherson Cemetery, Clyde, Ohio
Allegiance  United States of America
Service/branch  United States Army
Years of service 1939–1943
Rank Sergeant
Unit 148th Infantry Regiment, 37th Infantry Division
Battles/wars World War II
Awards Medal of Honor
Purple Heart

Rodger Wilton Young (April 28, 1918 – July 31, 1943) was a United States Army infantryman from Ohio during World War II. Born in the small town of Tiffin, Ohio, in 1932, Young suffered a sports injury in high school that led to his becoming nearly deaf and blind. Despite this, he was able to pass the exams necessary to enter the Ohio National Guard. Soon after the United States entered World War II, Young’s company was activated as part of the U.S. Army. Soon after his activation, in 1943, Young was killed on the island of New Georgia in Solomon Islands while helping his platoon withdraw from a Japanese ambush. For his actions, he was posthumously awarded the United States’ highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor.

In remembrance of Young, the songwriter Frank Loesser wrote “The Ballad of Rodger Young“, a war song based on Young’s Medal of Honor citation. The night infiltration course at Fort Benning is named for Young, as is a small arms firing range at Camp Perry.

Early life and education[edit]

Young was born on April 28, 1918, in Tiffin, Ohio,[1] to Nicholas and Ester Young.[2] He had four siblings; three brothers and one sister. For much of his early life, Young lived in the town of Green Springs, Ohio, but later in his childhood he and his family moved to Clyde, Ohio. Throughout his childhood, Young enjoyed hunting, which improved his marksmanship skills.[1]

Although a small-statured boy, Young was a keen athlete. While in high school, he tried out for his school’s football team. He was not accepted at first, but eventually, his effort and enthusiasm in practices persuaded the coach to allow him to play in some games.[2]

During a high school basketball game, Young received a serious head injury after contact with an opponent. The incident led to significant but gradual damage to his hearing and eyesight. Because of this, he had to drop out of high school in his sophomore year, at which point his hearing and vision loss had progressed to a severe point.[2]

Military service[edit]

Looking for ways to earn extra income and thinking that, because of his health issues, he would fail the normal Army medical exam, Young applied to the Ohio National Guard in 1939.[2] Despite his poor sight and hearing, Young was accepted and posted to “B” Company, 148th Infantry Regiment of the 37th Infantry Division.[3] Although Young was the shortest man in his company[1][2] and wore glasses, he was considered a good soldier by his peers.[3]

World War II[edit]

In October 1940, a year after joining the National Guard, Young and his unit were activated for federal service as part of American preparations for World War II. At that time,[3] Young was a corporal, training new recruits in handling small arms. Following a promotion to sergeant, he was assigned to lead an infantry squad.[1] In 1942, soon after America’s entry into the war, the 148th embarked for Fiji, in the Pacific, and after that to the nearby Solomon Islands for training prior to a deployment to the Japanese-held island of New Georgia. By this time, Young’s hearing and eyesight had deteriorated to a point where, taking into account the safety of those under him, Young requested a demotion to private, which would render him unable to command a squad.[3][4]

When Young submitted his request to the company commander, the commander initially thought Young was malingering in order to avoid combat; however, a medical examination carried out soon after determined that Young was nearly deaf, which convinced the commander to demote him.[2] The examining doctor recommended that Young go to a field hospital for treatment. However, not wanting to miss the New Georgia landing, Young requested to remain with his squad.[2] The commander accepted his request and a week later, on July 31, 1943, Young carried out the actions that led to his posthumous award of the Medal of Honor.[3]

Nine days into the Battle of Munda Point, on July 31, Young was assigned to a 20-man patrol sent out at around 4:00 p.m. to reconnoiter Japanese territory. After achieving their objective, the patrol was returning to American lines when they were ambushed by five Japanese soldiers.[2] Heavy fire from the enemy, who were concealed in a machine gun pit 75 yards (69 m) on higher ground, prevented further forward movement by the patrol. Two soldiers were killed in the initial burst and Young was wounded. During an attempt to flank the enemy, two more soldiers were killed. At this point, the patrol leader ordered a withdrawal.[5] Young, ignoring the order to withdraw and his wound, began crawling towards the Japanese position. Another machine gun burst wounded Young a second time, but he continued his advance, drawing the enemy fire away from his squad. As Young drew closer to the machine gun pit, he began responding with rifle fire and by throwing hand grenades at the nest, wounding or killing most of the soldiers inside. Young was soon hit by enemy fire and killed.[2] Because of his actions, Young’s platoon was able to withdraw from the ambush without any further casualties.[4]

Army Medal of Honor

On January 6, 1944, Young’s family was presented with the Medal of Honor.[2] Young’s Medal of Honor citation reads:[5]

On July 31, 1943, the infantry company of which Pvt. Young was a member, was ordered to make a limited withdrawal from the battle line in order to adjust the battalion’s position for the night. At this time, Pvt. Young’s platoon was engaged with the enemy in a dense jungle where observation was very limited. The platoon suddenly was pinned down by intense fire from a Japanese machinegun concealed on higher ground only 75 yards away. The initial burst wounded Pvt. Young. As the platoon started to obey the order to withdraw, Pvt. Young called out that he could see the enemy emplacement, whereupon he started creeping toward it. Another burst from the machine gun wounded him the second time. Despite the wounds, he continued his heroic advance, attracting enemy fire and answering with rifle fire. When he was close enough to his objective, he began throwing hand grenades, and while doing so was hit again and killed. Pvt. Young’s bold action in closing with this Japanese pillbox and thus diverting its fire, permitted his platoon to disengage itself, without loss, and was responsible for several enemy casualties.[6]

Young’s body was transferred to the United States in July 1949 and is now buried in McPherson Cemetery in Clyde, Ohio.[7]

Legacy[edit]

The Ballad of Rodger Young
Duration: 4 minutes and 29 seconds.
The Ballad of Rodger Young performed by the West Point Cadet Glee Club, 1959.

Problems playing this file? See media help.

At the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Moore in Georgia, the night infiltration course is named for Young. A passing grade in the course is a prerequisite for graduation; soldiers crawl through sandy and muddy terrain while live gunfire from M60 or M240B machine guns passes overhead. Fort Moore’s Recreation Center has a plaque in recognition of his bravery.[2]

On March 1, 1945, the city of Fremont, Ohio memorialized Fremont Water Works Park by dedicating it to the memory of Rodger W. Young and members of the armed forces from Sandusky County, Ohio in World War II.[8]

In 1945, songwriter Frank Loesser wrote “The Ballad of Rodger Young“.[4] At the time, Loesser was a private serving in the Army’s Radio Production Unit. Life magazine featured the ballad’s sheet music and lyrics in a story on Young in its March 5, 1945, edition.[9] The Life article, together with the 1949 repatriation of Young’s body to the United States, boosted the song’s popularity. Best-selling recordings were made by Burl Ives and Nelson Eddy by the end of 1949. On March 31, 1946, “The Ballad of Rodger Young” was sung by tenor Dennis Day on the Jack Benny Program on the radio. After the song, Jack Benny gave a speech in Young’s honor.[10]

In 1946, a veterans’ housing project was established in Los Angeles, California. This was known as the Rodger Young Village until the mid-1950s when it was destroyed.[11] At the Ohio National Guard Training Site in Camp Perry, there is a small arms firing range named in honor of Young. Camp Perry hosts the National Rifle & Pistol Championships.[2]

Young is briefly mentioned in Robert A. Heinlein‘s 1949 short story “The Long Watch” and in his novel The Rolling Stones, a mountain range on the moon is named for Young. In Heinlein’s novel Starship Troopers, for which he was awarded the Hugo in 1959, the troop transport TFCT Rodger Young is named for him. Loesser’s ballad also features on several occasions in the book.[12] Heinlein also included a “Historical Note” in which he quoted Young’s Medal of Honor citation. The starship is also featured in Paul Verhoeven‘s adaption of the novel, named the “No. 176 Rodger Young“; in the movie the character Sgt. Zim pays a loose homage to Young’s history by asking to be demoted so he can join the front lines.[2]

In January 1964, Young’s story was featured in the 15th episode of the TV historical series The Great Adventure, in which he was portrayed by James MacArthur.

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All About Guns The Green Machine War

Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) Model 1918

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The Green Machine This great Nation & Its People War

Civil War – Union Army “Irish Brigade” – A Short History

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Manly Stuff Our Great Kids Soldiering The Green Machine War

The ROCK! by James Dietz

After 11 years of sustained conflict in Afghanistan, the “Sky Soldiers” of 2d Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry Regiment continued to contribute and sacrifice towards the Global War on Terror.

By the way, they were also the Unit that took back the Island of Corregidor ftom the Japs in 1945 during WWII. By parachuting on to the Island against some pretty stiff Japanese Oppostion. Grumpy