Charlie Long commemorated for 60 years with American Legion

Charlie Long has been a member of the American Legion for 60 years!

Greg Behrens, vice commander at Post 157 in Electric City, presented the Coulee Dam man with a 60-year certificate March 25. Behrens said he had wanted to do a formal presentation but wasn't able to because of the coronavirus social restrictions.

"It was kind of surprising," Long told The Star over the phone on Monday. "I didn't realize it had been that long."

Behrens provided a description of Long's tenure in the army:

"Charlie joined the U.S. Army in 1952 and completed his basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri. After basic training and advanced training he was then assigned to the 430th Engineering Construction Battalion and spent 14-15 months in Korea. Charlie worked in the operations section and oversaw many of the aspects of the jobs they were assigned to accomplish."

"He remembers many memorable days of minus 20-25 degrees living in squad tents. Fortunately the army provided the soldiers with more-than-adequate down sleeping bags, which were often covered in frost by morning."

"Korea isn't very warm," Long said. "It's like here. It's on the 38th parallel. The winters are a little harsher than ours. Kind of like the Midwest. We lived in tents over there. We didn't know any better; we were young and dumb."

After Long left the service in 1954, he "continued refining and utilizing his construction expertise, working on many Bureau of Reclamation projects," Behrens description continues. "He finally set roots at Grand Coulee and was one of the project's construction inspectors extraordinaire."

Long said he had been most active with the American Legion in Nebraska and Montana, making friends and being involved with a lot there, including youth baseball teams and serving on the honor guard at funerals.

He said it was a nice surprise getting a certificate commemorating his time with the Legion.