Assuming you’re not an illiterate wretch, you probably already know where the phrase Shines the name! come from. It’s the boarding alert for the UCSS Rodger Young. The Rodger Young (SST-176) is a corvette class warship named for Rodger Wilton Young. Young was a WWII US Army soldier awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions during an attack on a Japanese airfield during the Solomon Islands campaign.

The Rodger Young carried elements of the 1st Division, Mobile Infantry: specifically, Combat Team Second Platoon, George Company of the Third Regiment. You may remember them as Rasczak’s (later Rico’s) “Roughnecks.” 

Want to rep that storied warship with a shirt, patch, or decal? Yeah. Us too. 

Medal of Honor recipient Rodger W. Young, US Army (left). Right top: Young’s funeral on the island of New Georgia. Bottom right: Young’s remains returned to his hometown in Ohio. Author Robert Heinlein named an assault transport ship in his novel Starship Troopers in honor of Pvt. Young. 

The name of the vessel, and the lyrics of its recall, extoll the service and sacrifice of infantrymen of every time and place.

And now her ship’s store is open to the public!

UCSS Rodger Young Ship’s Store

In addition to cigarettes that won’t give you cancer and candy that won’t make you fat, her ship’s store has Zippo lighters, t-shirts, morale patches, and decals.

All are available right here online at True North Concepts. 

There are several items available in the ship’s store. And you can buy them in one of several different packages.

Some of your options include: 

• The Full Kit: This kit includes (1) Next Level T-shirt, (1) Vinyl sticker, (1) Velcro-backed patch, and (1) Custom engraved chrome Zippo lighter. The Zippo is exclusive to this kit, and is factory engraved at the Zippo factory in Bradford, Pa.

• T-Shirt only: This includes (1) Shirt of selected color and size. These are printed on super-soft, long-wearing 60/40 blend Next Level T-shirts. Choose between Dark Navy Blue with the full-color emblem, or a light Heather Grey with Black emblem.

• Sticker only: (1) This is one high-resolution UV-resistant vinyl sticker decal. AKA, “a sticker.”

• Patch and Sticker only: This includes one high-resolution UV-resistant vinyl sticker decal. It also includes one high-detail embroidered ship’s patch, made by a vendor who almost exclusively makes patches for ships and aviation squadrons. It is backed with hook velcro to attach to your uniform of choice.

Rodger Wilton Young

Medal of Honor citation to accompany the award: 

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 machine gun 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.

The Ballad of Rodger Young

Oh, they've got no time for glory in the Infantry.
Oh, they've got no use for praises loudly sung.
But in every soldier's heart in all the Infantry
Shines the name, shines the name of Rodger Young.

(Shines the name, Rodger Young!
Fought and died for the men he marched among.
To the everlasting glory of the Infantry.
Lives the story of Private Rodger Young.)

Caught in ambush lay a company of riflemen
Just grenades against machine guns in the gloom.
Caught in ambush till this one of twenty riflemen
Volunteered, volunteered to meet his doom.

Volunteered, Rodger Young!
Fought and died for the men he marched among.
In the everlasting annals of the Infantry
Glows the last deed of Private Rodger Young.

(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
Stood the man, stood the man we hail tonight.)

On the island of New Georgia in the Solomons
Stands a simple wooden cross alone to tell.
That beneath the silent coral 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.
In the everlasting spirit of the Infantry
Breathes the spirit of Private Rodger Young.

No, they've got no time for glory in the Infantry.
No, they've got no use for praises loudly sung.
But in every soldier's heart in all the Infantry
Shines the name, shines the name of Rodger Young.

Shines the name, Rodger Young!
Fought and died for the men he marched among.
To the everlasting glory of the Infantry
Lives the story of Private Rodger Young.


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