STATE OF OHIO

Executive Department

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

Columbus

PROCLAMATION

RODGER W. YOUNG DAY

WHEREAS, Private Rodger W. Young, enlisted in the Ohio National Guard, Company "B", 148th Infantry, on January 18, 1938, at Fremont, Ohio, and

WHEREAS, Private Rodger W. Young left Fremont, Ohio, with his Company, a part of the 37th Division, for training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, going overseas thereafter to the Southwest Pacific Theatre of battle, and

WHEREAS, on July 31, 1943, Private Young's platoon was engaged with the Japanese enemy in a tangled jungle of the island of New Georgia, in the Solomons group, and

WHEREAS, the platoon suddenly was pinned down by intense fire from a Japanese machine gun located in a concealed spot on higher ground 75 yards away, the initial burst of fire wounding Private Young, and

WHEREAS, as the order to withdraw was being obeyed, Private Rodger W. Young called out that he could see the Japanese pillbox and started creeping toward it as another burst wounded him the second time, and

WHEREAS, without thought of his wounds he continued determinedly toward the machine gun nest firing his rifle and drawing the enemy fire away from his platoon, and

WHEREAS, when he was close enough to the objective he began throwing hand grenades during which time he was hit again and killed, and

WHEREAS, Private Rodger W. Young, a native of Ohio, born at Tiffin April 28, 1918, residing at Clyde, and enlisting at Fremont, distinguished himself so conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty that he was posthumously awarded our nation's highest award--the Congressional Medal of Honor, and

WHEREAS, Rodger W. Young was the first Ohio Infantryman in this conflict to win the Congressional Medal of Honor, symbolizing the valor and bravery of all Infantrymen not only from Ohio but also from the entire nation, and

WHEREAS, patriotic citizens of Fremont, in conjunction with the United States War Department, are setting aside Sunday, March 25, 1945, as a day of tribute and honor to Private Rodger W. Young's deeds, which ceremony is to be held in that city,

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Frank J. Lausche, Governor of the State of Ohio, do hereby proclaim Sunday, March 25, as "Rodger W. Young Day" in Ohio in honor of his great deeds and accomplishments, and call upon all citizens of Ohio to commemorate that day in homage to him and all other valiant Americans engaged in the sacred task of preserving that which we so bountifully enjoy--liberty and freedom.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set
my hand and caused the Great Seal
of the State of Ohio to be affixed at
Columbus, this 11th day of March in the
year of our Lord, One Thousand Nine
Hundred and Forty-five.

BY THE GOVERNOR: Frank J. Lausche

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