Roy Long Library of Congress Interview (2006)

Okay.

The following interview was conducted with Roy Long for the Library of Congress, American Folk Life Center Veterans History Project. It took place on November 17, 2006 at Durham Western Heritage Museum in Omaha, Nebraska. The interviewer is Alysse Hotz. And Roy, how about we just start off with you telling me a little bit about yourself before the war.

Where I was born? I was born at Blair, Nebraska on a farm August 7, 1922. We lived on a farm about 3.5 miles south of Blair. I graduated from Blair High School in 1940, and then in the fall of 1940, attended the University of Nebraska. And I enlisted in the reserve in 1942. And I was able to stay in school until spring of 1943 when our entire ROTC class was taken into active duty. And then we were transported to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. And from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, I went to Fort Knox, Kentucky for my basic training. And while I was at Fort Knox, Kentucky, I was selected for Officers Candidate School at Fort Knox, Kentucky. And after our basic training, our officers candidate class did not start until, I think it was in January or February of 1944. So I attended Army specialized training at the University of Nebraska for about two months before I attended Officers Candidate School at Fort Knox, Kentucky. And I was graduated as a second lieutenant in June of 1944. Upon completion of Officers Candidates School our entire class was taken to Fort Benning, Georgia and transferred to infantry. At the time we thought, boy, that was, that was bad, we would be going out of armor and going into the infantry. But later on I'll tell you why. We attended Officer or infantry training at Fort Benning, Georgia. And then I was transferred to the 71st Division at Fort Benning, Georgia. And I was in H Company of the 66th Infantry. And my duties there were in a 81 mortar platoon. And one of the, it almost happened, in October of 1944, we received orders to ship overseas. Shortly after we received those orders, they were canceled. Our orders were canceled and 106 Division was sent in our place. If you recall of your military history, the 106th Division was hit directly with the Battle of the Bulge. They were right in the middle of the Battle of the Bulge. And for all practical purposes, the 106th division almost ceased to exist. Either they were captured or killed. They were almost completely wiped out. We would have been there, but in this case we weren't.

And then it was in January of 1945 when we were sent to Europe. And our first assignment was in France, and we were on the south edge where the Bulge was originally. And from there we went into the Siegfried Line. We crossed the, not the Danube, the Rhine, that's what I was trying to say, the Rhine river. And we had one big battle with the sixth SS Mountain Division. And finally they were cleaned out and we finally defeated those. At that time, we were with the Patton's Third Army and we were heading straight for Berlin and we were going as fast as we could until we got to a town of Fulda. At that time, that's when Patton was given a direct order to stop. We were about 125 miles from Berlin. We stopped for a couple of days, and then we made a right turn. Went down through the eastern part of Germany and finally wound up into Austria. And that's where we were at the end of the war. I think one of the things that happened down in Austria, near Wels, Austria, we came into one of the concentration camps. And it was our duties to get that cleaned out. Get those prisoners, well they weren't prisoners, they were concentration camps get those cleaned out. And one of the sad parts about this that they're bringing those in, these men in, and they were such in bad condition that they were sleeping in this what was called an army German concern. And it was, it ended in May. So it was quite warm and they were sleeping outside. And every morning that they'd give them a, the ones that were awake and living would get up and move, and then we'd take the dead out that died during the night. And this went on for some days. We finally got the ones that were well enough. They got them into hospitals and got them into care so that they were, they were repatriated. But there were many of them that during the night that they were just too far gone. They just, and then in the morning these ones would move and they just carry out the dead. But that was that was very briefly where the war ended down there in May of 194-, 45.

Do you recall the name of the camp that you guys liberated?

Gunskirchen Lager. Gunskirchen Lager.

Would you be able to spell that by chance? I know.

G-U-N-S-K U or I Gunskirch. K-I-R-K-E-N Lager L A G E R Gunskirchen Lager. And this was outside of, right outside of Wels, Austria. I was unfortunate enough that I came into one area that hadn't been cleared and these, the inmates in there were they were in such bad condition that they couldn't even get out of the bunks. They were in kind of tiered bunks and they were in such bad condition, they were just, they couldn't even get out of there. I couldn't do anything with them myself. So I had to report back to headquarters and then they were able to get people in and to clean them out. But it was a very traumatic experience of seeing these people and seeing seeing what went on.

Had the Nazi forces already evacuated the camps and just left?

They were when we got in there, they were in the process of leaving. And it was kind of like they left and we came in. But it was, it was, it was quite depressing to see them. And that's what I had trouble that's like with Schindler's List. I couldn't see that. And there was some others in that same, I couldn't see that. Although we were several years ago, our 71st Division had a reunion at Williamsburg, Virginia, and we had a trip up to see the Holocaust Museum. And I thought at the time, I don't know whether I'd want to see that or not, but we did go through it and it was, it's it's very heart wrenching to see that, to see what went on. Because of seeing that and then seeing what we had seen before. It was very difficult to go through it. But we did, and I'm glad now that we did make that journey.

One of the, on this, the Yalta Conference, I'll make mention of that, that happened in February 1945 between Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin. I was involved in really three of the decisions that were made during that time. The first one was that decided at Yalta that all prisoners of war shall be returned to your country of origin. Well, this in itself is not, doesn't sound too bad. It sounds like maybe a pretty good idea, everybody come back. But what happened on the Russian front? The Germans captured the 15th White Ukrainian army almost intact during the early part of the war. And what they did, the Germans did, is retrain them and, and sent them back fighting the Russians. Well, near the end of the war, this 15th White Ukrainian army was captured by US forces. Well, they were brought back, a lot of them are brought back to Dachau, which is a famous concentration camp or infamous concentration camp. They were at various other places. Well, they started taking those, sending them back. These prisoners were impaling themselves on stick, cutting their wrists, cutting their throats. They didn't want to go. They're going back they get killed. But the last group was near Regensburg, Germany. And H Company, which I was a company commander at that time, had the duty of sending, I think there were probably about between 100 and 200 of them left. And we had the duty of rounding those up, getting them on train, and sending them back to Russia. Now, that was a very difficult thing as far as I was concerned to do because we knew they were going to be sent back to a sure death.

The other part of the recalled the Yalta Conference was the War Trials up in Nuremberg. At that time, I was stationed with M Company, the 26th Infantry, First Infantry Division. And our duties at that time was guarding the British and Russian and American judges. And as a result of that, I could actually go in and see the war trials. And we were able to sit in almost like, not like a theater setting, but in elevated seats. And I could sit there and hear Göring, Hess, Jodl, and the rest of those prisoners walked by. And if I wanted to, I could probably reached out and touched them. I got that close to them. So it was a, that was very traumatic to see those see Göring and Hess and all the other German prisoners that was on the war trials walking by. That was quite a... And then the third part of that that had an effect on me, I was in the Korean War. The Armistice of the Korean War was delayed there for probably several months because of the prisoner exchange. See, the prisoner exchange from World War II, all prisoners would be returned. So that was one of the turning points because we knew the US knew what was happening to the Russians that were sent back. They were probably all done away with. And that was one of the stumbling points as far as Armistice was in Korea for several months. And finally the Chinese and the North Koreans relinquished that so that the prisoners had a choice. If they wanted to go back, they could. So actually it prolonged the war for me over there several months in Korea. But those are the three things that, as a result of the Yalta Conference that happened in February of 1945.

Is there anything you'd like to talk about of daily life in infantry when you first went over to Europe? Backtracking a little bit.

Well, that's you're talking in particular, you're talking about...

What was daily life like for you going over to Europe possibly for the first time.

Well the first, backtrack a little bit, going over on the onboard ship was quite an experience. It was kind of interesting, we pulled out of New York Harbor real early one morning and the sea was just, just like this floor. Just as smooth as could be, nothing happening. And, on board, we were on the American US Explorer, which was an old banana boat, during the peace time, we had about 3,000 troops on board the ship. And the men were given tickets like a green, red, and yellow ticket. And the green went in at a certain time, the red went in at a certain time, the yellow went in at a certain time. Well, the first day we're out, the line, there was no break in the line. It just kept going and kept going and kept going. Well, the next morning or that night, we hit all the rough seas. And then the next morning, if you were still on your feet, you could go in and eat anytime you wanted to because there was no line. I mean, everybody was so sick. And then on the convoy, we didn't realize it at the time. But, I found out, not too many years ago, talking to our division historian, that, at the time, I asked him, I said, we didn't run into any of the German Wolfpacks, the submarines. And he says, "But we did." And one of the submarines had fired a torpedo at the lead ship. But it just glanced off of the ship; it didn't go off. So that was our closest call with the German Wolfpack. They had the destroyer escorts where they were continually patrolling all out in front of us and it's seen about every night they always sound general quarters and alert and all that going up. But that was as far as it took us, we were about 14 days on the water and I was sick about almost all of those days, but that was quite an experience on that being first time on the water.

And where did you dock at once you got to Europe?

Well we went into Southampton because of fog. And then from Southampton we came over to Le Havre and we disembarked at Le Havre. And we went into what they called Camp Old Gold. And actually, what that was was a mud road and tents. And that was where we finally disembarked, and we got reorganized there. And then we left from there. One of the interesting things about Camp Old Gold, we had no showers there right at the camp. But a short distance away from there, the engineers had set up a shower. They broke the ice. This is in wintertime and they broke the ice. They got the shower going. And I think that was the fastest I've ever seen the guys get in, get a shower and get out of there because there was no heat. I mean it was... The water was warm, but by the time you get into a cold tent and through there, it was cold. But that was that was our GI shower and that was pretty cool.

From Camp Old Gold, do I have that right?

Yes.

From there, what was your guys' kind of track?

Then, we moved starting east, and we moved through part of France. We got close enough to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower. And then we were first near Nancy, Nancy, or however you pronounce it, France. That's where we first went on the line there and that's where we first saw our action. That I think was I don't know. I think that's the way you pronounce it, Nancy or Nancy, France. And then from there we went on through. I went in through the Siegfried Line. We got broke through there and across the Rhine River and that's like I was saying. Then we went from that 6 SS Mountain Division and then we did we did run into an ambush. Oh, we did a lot, of course, all this time in there. I'm not I don't even recall all the firing we did and everything and all that. But we did run into an ambush down in Austria where there was firing at us with 20 millimeter cannons. We got that all cleaned out of there, but I don't know. Do you have any other questions you'd like to ask?

Would you like to talk... I'm really interested in your experience with the Yalta Conference and the resulting, especially with the Nuremberg Trials. If you'd like to talk any more in detail about your experience with that, what it was like.

Well.

Anything you can recall.

So we had, like I said, we had our company, "M" company, the 26th Infantry, guarded the judges. That was the British, the American, and the Russian judges. And I guess to... To see the... Being able to be that close to Göring and Hess and Jodl and all those, really it was a very traumatic experience to see them. And I know this one particular day that Göring was being questioned and he was... he was really almost making a mockery. His attitude and the way he was answering and his almost sarcastic answers. And the thing that he was going through in there, and Jackson, who was the head American judge, I think he about... I don't know. He was he was really getting a little bit perturbed about them. But that was on this particular day, he was... he was showing I think he's really showing his arrogance to them. He was seemed like he was very, very cocky. But Jackson just became very, very irritated with him on that.

And did you serve as a guard for the duration of the trials or for a stint?

Well, we had... the guard we had was on the judge's living quarters. We didn't actually serve... they had the guard that was actually in the Palace of Justice and served in the courtroom. But we had our company, "M" company was guarding the the judges. That was the British, American, and Russian judges. We had those judges.

And how did you return to normal life again? I guess, I mean, as far as leaving Europe, heading back to the States?

Well, finally, one other thing before I get in there that might be interesting too, after the war was over, I was assigned right after the war was over, I was assigned to the... who was still with the 71st Division. And we were in Augsburg, Germany, and they started a division football team. I had played at the University of Nebraska three years... yeah, three years. So, I went out for the football team and through the football season, we were able to win the European Championship in the fall of 1945. And one of the pleasant experiences after the war was over, we've had our various reunions, and being able to see these fellows we played with was quite a wonderful feeling to see them later on. But the only problem is now, I think there's so many of them that passed away here just recently that I think most of them are gone now. But it was... that was quite an experience there after... right after the war was over in the fall of 1945.

And to backtrack real quick...

Okay.

Do you remember the day that you heard the war was over, at least the European front?

Yes, I don't... I think it was kind of like, "Oh, war's over." And see, we were... right at that time we were involved with that concentration camp. So it was... we had our minds and everything was kind of working with that, but it was kind of like, "Oh, war's over." And then we went on with trying to get this concentration camp. It was... that went on for several days there before we finally got it cleaned up and cleaned out there.

Okay. And as far as returning to life to normal life again?

Yes. That's part of my normal life over there. After I came back, I went back as as I said, I attended the University of Nebraska until... for three years and I came back to Lincoln. And while I was getting ready to get back to school again and get back with football, I met my wife Joy. And then we were... when I finished up in 19- summer of 1947, I graduated and we were married in fall of '47. And I started teaching down in Fredonia, Kansas for four years. And that's when I was called back into the Korean War. And then I spent a year over in Korea. And then after the Korean War, we came to Omaha. And we've been here at Omaha ever since. I taught schools at Omaha South, and then in special education for 32 years. And since then I've retired.

Is there anything you'd like to mention about your experience with the Korean War, besides what we've already talked about?

You want a little bit about the Korean War?

Yeah, absolutely.

I think one of the interesting parts that I spent about, I don't know, six or eight months as an artillery liaison with the Greek battalion. And that was quite an experience to be with the Greeks. Most of these people had just been fighting, fighting the Communists in Greece since, oh golly, I don't know, for several years. And they hated the communist Chinese. And to kind of give you an idea about how they felt about them, one night, we'd been getting a lot of artillery shells coming in. And I was talking to our forward observers... see I was artillery liaison. At that time, in the Korean War, I was a captain. So I had three forward observers under my command there with the various rifle companies. And we'd been receiving artillery fire all day. And I told the forward observers, I said, "I don't like this. It doesn't look good. What's going on?" At about that time, one of them says, "My God, here they come." They made the mistake. The Chinese made the mistake of hitting distance or started for this one company and all of our artillery was able to come in and they stopped them. But the next day these Greeks were... got mad at me because they wouldn't let them come in. And they wanted to fight them. They wanted to let them, to let them come on in so they could fight them. But that was part of the Korean, but that was quite an experience being a them. They were terrific people.

I was able to see their Greek Easter, and that was quite an experience in itself. They had a long trench, I don't know. It must have been probably 20, 30 yards long. And they filled it with wood, burned it, and then they put roasted lamb over that. And that went on all night, and soldiers that were attending the lamb were drinking ouzo, and by the time the morning got on, the lamb was cooked and they were cooked. But that was quite an experience, seeing the Greek Easter. It was really... they had all the dignitaries there. Another one of the interesting traditions that have, they take boiled eggs and if I come up to you, I have a boiled egg and I come up to you and they hit it. And if mine doesn't break, that means good luck. So what they did with me, they gave me a wooden egg. I was having all the good luck because my egg wasn't broken. That was one of the... of course, they have all the Greek dancing and singing and it is quite an experience.

It sounds like it.

But that was the Greeks.

Well, how do you feel like your experience with the military enriched or changed your life in any ways?

Well, I think it has... I think it gives you a greater appreciation of life. Seeing these concentration camps and what they did over there, it makes you more aware of what could happen and what you're trying not to happen. And... But I think that's probably... it really gives you a greater appreciation of life and what you can be.

Is there anything that we haven't talked about, that I haven't specifically brought up, that you'd like to talk about either from World War Two or Korea?

Golly, I don't know unless...

Any stories you want to tell?

Maybe some of the amusing things that happened. Now, this is during World War Two there, and I don't remember where it was, someplace in Germany. One of the men... he'd try... I guess try to see something funny or something amusing in there. But one of the men had written back to his girlfriend that... while he was in the foxhole, if you had a little candle, you could see because... usually we tried to cover over because you didn't want air bursts coming in. So you want to cover over. So you had a little candle in there, so that you could see in the foxhole. And what they'd usually do is take a 'C' ration can and put a little candle in there so you could have a little light. Well, his girlfriend took this literally and we hadn't gotten any mail for some time. And finally, one day you got this box and it was about, oh, it must have been about 18 " long and probably about 6 " square. And he thought, well, now that could be some cookies or it could be, we didn't know what was. He opened it up and it was those are big long taper candles. And he was supposed to put those in the box. But that was... that was one of the more amusing things that happened. But even though all the seriousness and everything else was going on, there were times like that that we did get a chuckle out of.

What was the level, I'm sure it was, but was the level, would you like to talk about the level of camaraderie between soldiers?

Oh, yes. In fact, this one on the candles, I still, we still go back and forth. We talk back and forth. And in fact, I sent him a copy... I've written a book about my ETO experience. And I sent him a copy of that. And we talk back and forth on that. But the rest of them, that's the only one that I've really been... Well, there's one down in Georgia that's been some time since I've contacted him. But this one... he lives out in California, that we keep pretty close contact in there. And I sent him a book and he was... he was who I called if I needed anything. His name was Nick. I won't give you his last name, but his name is Nick. I'll say "Nick, I need something," or "We need this," or "We need that." Okay, Lieutenant. Nick could take off and he'd come back, he'd have it. But that's the one I still... we're still in contact with.

Well, all right. Is there anything that we haven't covered that you'd still like to cover?

Oh gosh. I don't know what to...

You have a lot to tell us.

Right now, I'll probably leave here, probably walk away and probably think of a lot of things. But I think right now I think we've probably covered... like I said, I didn't... we weren't talking about it all the time. We were we were firing our mortars and doing that. But, we didn't really talk about that. But...

If you'd like to talk more about the combat experiences, feel free.

Well, I think the only... no, I don't know. I think we got it. I think we probably covered it okay.

Well, thank you so much for the interview, that was wonderful.

Well, thank you for inviting me down and...

Absolutely. It's really neat to see that while all this was going on that there still was, I don't know, joking around between buddies and you know, I don't know.

It's really been quite an experience, I'll tell you.