Guitar: Ballad Of Rodger Young (Including lyrics and chords)


My young friend Sam sent this request for a song I have never heard before. It was written by Tony winner Frank Loesser and tells the true story of a brave young infantryman during WWII who gave his life so his comrades might withdraw safely from heavy enemy fire. Rodger Young's story can be seen in Wikipedia from which the following is taken:Young's Medal of Honor citation reads:Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, 148th Infantry, 37th Infantry Division. Place and date: On New Georgia, Solomon Islands, 31 July 1943. Entered service at: Clyde, Ohio. Birth: Tiffin, Ohio. G.O. No.: 3, 6 January 1944. Citation: On 31 July 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 machinegun 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 handgrenades, 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.The song was performed by Burl Ives who some people think I resemble.







Channel: Education
Uploaded: January 25, 2012 at 8:19 am
Author: threelegsoman

Length: 00:04:14
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Views: 313

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Video Comments:
Evilliboba (April 26, 2012 at 6:06 am)
Beautiful rendition.I have to search up this song every time I read Starship Troopers.
BrutalAwesomeMusic (January 31, 2012 at 7:53 pm)
Sick !
1oldman4u2 (January 30, 2012 at 11:43 am)
Very beautiful. A haunting melody that tells a sad tale indeed. Very well performed! Thank you for sharing this.
kaknockitoff (January 30, 2012 at 1:29 am)
This is beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing.. beautiful guitar playing too!  Wonderful song... I like war hero songs.

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