Greg Fox leads a June 25 practice for the Voices of Freedom Community Choir Concert. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

BY SHERI TRUSTY

PORT CLINTON – When Greg Fox was taking a methods class in college, he learned about the song “The Ballad of Rodger Young,” which honors the heroism of Pvt. Rodger Young, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient who was killed rushing a Japanese machine gun nest during World War II. Young was born in Tiffin, lived in Green Springs and Clyde, and is buried in McPherson Cemetery in Clyde. Rodger Young Park in Fremont is named in his honor.

Fox was moved by the song and by the story of a hero from Northwest Ohio. He incorporated the ballad into this year’s Voices of Freedom Community Choir Concert, the annual Port Clinton concert performed on Independence Day. Fox serves as the choir’s director.

The Voices of Freedom Community Choir practices inside Trinity UMC. The concert will be held in the church on July 4. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

According to information from Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Rodger joined the Ohio National Guard in 1938. On July 31, 1943, a Japanese machine gun nest protecting the Munda airstrip on New Guinea had Young’s squad pinned down.

Although wounded in the attack, Young crept toward the machine gun under fire. His commanding officer ordered him to come back, but Young, who had suffered hearing loss from an injury in his youth, ignored the command and with defiant bravery said, “I’m sorry sir, but you know I don’t hear very well.”

The Voices of Freedom Community Choir Concert will feature many patriotic songs. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

Young was wounded a second time but continued his advance. When he was close enough, he targeted the gun nest with grenades. As he attacked the enemy, he was killed by return fire. His actions gave his squad the opportunity to inflict casualties on the enemy and withdraw with no additional American losses.

His heroism was recognized with a posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor, and his sacrifice was memorialized in “The Ballad of Rodger Young.”

“I have had this song on my mind for a few years, and I knew that I would like to find an arrangement since he was from this area,” Fox said.

Greg Fox will direct the July 4 Voices of Freedom Community Choir Concert. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

A choir member’s niece located an online copy of the song, which was composed by PFC Frank Loesser in 1945.

“From that copy I created an arrangement for this year’s choir. Two members of this years’ choir attended school in Clyde, and both of them were taught the song in their music classes,” Fox said.

Port Clinton Elks Lodge #1718 will set a POW table at the concert to honor all those lost in war, and members of the lodge’s Honor Guard will present the colors. Heather Merckens, a Huron High School government class teacher and a Gulf War veteran, will serve as the concert’s narrator.

Greg Fox directs a Voices of Freedom Community Choir Concert practice on June 25. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

Fifty-five people, including the accompanists, make up this year’s Voices of Freedom choir. In addition to “The Ballad of Rodger Young,” the performance will also feature many patriotic songs.

The Voices of Freedom concert will be held on July 4 at 7 p.m. at Trinity United Methodist Church on the corner of 2nd and Adams streets in Port Clinton. The concert is free, and all are welcome. Fireworks will follow the concert at 10 p.m. and can be viewed from Waterworks Park and Port Clinton City Beach.