Meeting Mr. Long

Amanda Faye introduced me to a long time family friend this weekend, Mr. Milton Long, in Greenville, SC. He served in WWII in a field artillery unit as Coordinates Operator from '42-'46, including the Battle of the Bulge. Upon returning home to NC, he married his girlfriend and was given his old job back prior to the war, cleaning looms at the local textile mill. For several years beginning in 1974, Dottie, AF's mom, worked with Mr. Long at the mill and developed the friendship that has lasted since then. We discussed his experiences in Germany and he showed us some of the items he collected while there. Here are pics of his most ornate knives, both include scabbards and swastikas.

Mr. Long is full of stories and seems to be, as many of his generation, quite a renaissance man. His children have all been raised in the church, some becoming missionaries in Rwanda, and others ministers. His granddaughter now works at Hardin-Simmons in Abilene. Of Abilene, Mr. Long mentioned he'd visited several times and commented on how "flat" it is.