Interview

Orville Long, Interviewed by Colton Reynolds, 2018

INTERVIEW LOG
 
Name of person(s) interviewed:
Orville Long
 
Other people present:  No one
Researcher:  Colton Reynolds
Date of interview: Saturday, May 19, 2018
Location of interview:  Benton City , Washington
Special conditions (noise, interruptions, etc.): Camera would shut off 12 minutes into recording, so I don’t have all of the video, but have all of my audio.  Air conditioning in the house comes on and off during the interview.
General description of contents: He served in the navy during the Korean War; he was on the Valley Forge aircraft carrier and USS Midway.
Length of interview: The interview was 34 minutes and 25 seconds/ 

TOPIC SUMMARY
Time and Contents

0:00-1:15: Background information

1:16-5:56: Beginning life/ Prior to the Korean War

5:56-10:46: Talks of the way and enlisting

10:46-26:13: Fighting in the war

26:13-30:33: Life in the Korean War and on the Valley Forge

30:33-33:05: After his service and his life after his service

33:06-34:25: Closing 

Mr. Orville Long
Interviewed by Colton Reynolds, 2018

Orville Long grew up on the Indian Reservation near Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

During his teen years and the summer, Orville worked as a cat driver. He started at the age of twelve, and would get out of school in April to start working as a cat driver and wouldn’t get back until September. He was working as a cat driver because he was one of the few who knew how to operate a cat tractor. He would run a 12 hour shift on the tractor, getting on at 6 AM and quitting at 6 PM at night. In addition to running the tractor, he was also in charge of greasing and refueling. The tractor was constantly running except to change oil, which had to be changed every 100 hours. During this time, they were setting up wheat fields.

Orville enlisted in the U.S. Navy when he was 18. His family thought that it was a good deal to get into the military, but his father told him not to enlist in the army because of his experiences. Orville enlisted 2-3 weeks before the draft had begun. Orville joined the navy because he had a B+ average and was not able to join the ROTC at the University in Idaho.
           
Before going into war, Orville was required to complete boot camp. Orville described boot camp as “easy” because he was “used to hard work and long hours.” Boot camp consisted of marching, physical drills, classroom teaching on equipment used, firefighting training, and rifle training. Boot camp lasted almost ten weeks.
           
During the Korean War, they stayed off the coast of North Korea on the Sea of Japan. Orville was stationed on the USS Valley Forge and USS Midway. Many different planes and a helicopter landed on the aircraft carrier. Some of the aircraft were the F-9 and F-2 Panther jets, along with several others. They usually spent about 30-60 day increments on the ship and every 4th day, a supply ship would come out and reload the ship with food, ammunition, and fuel; the ship also delivered letters to the soldiers.

During the winters, it would get very cold, leaving the oil to gel and the prop planes unable to turn over. Ice would be everywhere, they would use the jets to try and thaw things out. Other types of weather included suffering 5 typhoons.
           
Meals on the ships were just like what would be eaten at home. Foods served would include beans, chicken, pork chops, and pork roast. Soldiers were also served turkey for Thanksgiving and ham for Christmas. There were 3 galleys on the Midway, but one big one on the Valley Forge,

During the war, Orville never experienced any combat. Orville explained that they were never attacked by air or by land as they were 4-5 miles out from the island. Orville was generally pretty safe on the ships. 

Orville received a few awards and citations, which included the Navy unit citation, signmenary citation, and the rest were other medals he had received.  He received these awards by working in a unit, he did not receive any individual citations because the flying he did was considered as utility flying. While on duty, his job was to start all the aircraft by connecting electrical power to the aircraft, he was also in charge of the firefighting crew as well. In addition to, he also assisted in maintenance that needed to be done on the ship and the aircraft.

To stay in touch with his family, he would send mail. Mail was much slower back then, taking sometimes 3 months to get a letter home. His mom would often send him cookies in a coffee can stuffed with popcorn to cushion them. He was able to send his mail for free being soldiers of the war. Some communication was done by telephone.

He ended his service on the 29th of July, 1971. He ended his service with 21 years of service. After he was finished, he moved back to Idaho. Shortly after that, he went back to running a cat tractor all summer and drove a truck in the winter. He also worked as a tribal police officer. He didn’t continue friendships he had made in the service. But, he joined several veteran organizations like, Navy Fleet Reserve, VFW, and American Legion. He would also begin working at Hanford doing various tasks.

After what he had been through in the war, he did not regret and was glad that the Korean War was a part of his life.         

---