13NOV1944 WASN'T A GOOD DAY FOR THESE SOLDIERS
On the other hand, in August, 2016, the two World War II veterans couldn’t stop toasting each
other – with bottled Coca-Colas – spiked with salted peanuts.
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| WW II PURPLE HEART VETERANS SALUTE EACH OTHER |
William Henry Long and Milton Percy Stanfield graduated in
the early 1940s from Summerfield and Monticello High Schools,
respectively. Given their era, being
drafted wasn’t “if,” but “when.” They
did odd jobs such as farming, driving trucks and building boats in the
interim. The interim was a bit longer in
those days – high school graduation came after the 11th grade.
Their paths did not cross before leaving to serve their
country.
Long landed on Omaha Beach in mid-July, 1944. Stanfield landed on Utah Beach a short time
later. Both joined the 315th
Infantry Regiment of the 79th Infantry Division as replacements.
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| MILTON STANFIELD, BAR-MAN, 79TH ID |
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| DOC LONG, BAZOOKA-MAN, 79TH ID |
Even though they were in the same Division and Regiment -- Long
as a bazooka-man in Company G, Stanfield as a BAR-man in Company E -- their
paths did not cross.
Since the French language had not been taught at Summerfield
or Monticello High Schools, a French dictionary would have served Long and
Stanfield well. In weeks, they had
bridged, boated, waded or swam across rivers such as the Ay, Sarthe, Seine,
Moselle, and Meurthe -- and liberated towns such as Flottenan, Cherbourg, La
Haye de Puits, Laval, LeMans and Charmes.
In a rush to reach the Franco-Belgian border, the entire 79th
Division moved 180 miles in 72 hours – they were among first American G.I.s to
enter Belgium. According to Major
General Charles H. Corbett, “That was one of the fastest opposed advances by a
division in the history of warfare.”
While street-fighting and house-to-house combat had been the
order of the day, clearing the Foret de Parroy was quite different. Both Long and Stanfield recall the dense
woods, lack of roads, and a steady diet of mud, rain and fatigue. They have even more unpleasant memories of
the determined German defense of tanks, artillery and mortars.
Long recalls, “By that time, we had taken huge numbers of
German prisoners of war. We had to move
them as we moved. We just put a rope
around them, they weren’t too interested in escaping.”
After 127 days of continuous combat -- on Tuesday, October
24, 1944 -- the 315th Infantry Regiment paused for rest near Luneville,
France. Even during this offline period,
the paths of Long and Stanfield did not cross.
At 7 a.m., on Monday, November 13, after what must have felt
like the shortest 20 days of their lives, troops of Companies G and E of the
315th Infantry Regiment went back into the lines.
On that fateful day, Stanfield went down first, struck in
his arm, hand and leg by shrapnel, “I received a purple heart, but felt like I
earned three of them – shrapnel burns skin, cuts arteries and breaks bones!” After treatment in three Army hospitals, he
returned to limited duty for the duration of the war.
Long, a bazooka-man himself, went down at 3 p.m. wounded by
shrapnel from a German bazooka shell.
With severed nerves and a major artery cut in his right arm, he was
wounded a second time in his other shoulder and arm when a mortar shell
exploded nearby. He was rescued after
lying on the frozen battlefield for 18 hours.
Long recalls, “The below freezing temperature and the fact I
had on seven layers of clothing, turned out to be a blessing -- otherwise I
would have probably bled to death before they got to me.”
With his right arm paralyzed since the war, Long asked a
general if he could salute with his left hand, “He told me to stand tall and
proudly salute with what I had left!”
Stanfield, now 93, returned to his Triad roots, raised his
family, worked at the Sears Catalog Plant for 37 years, and retired to Madison.
William Henry Long, now 92 -- and much better known as “Doc”
Long -- returned to his Summerfield roots, raised his family, and co-founded Long
Brothers of Summerfield, Asphalt Paving of Greensboro and Hilco Transport
Company.
Long’s philanthropy is significant and far-reaching. Beyond community and church, he funded a war
memorial in the small French village of Ancerviller, where he was wounded in
1944.
According to Carolina Field of Honor founder, Bill Moss,
“Doc Long jump-started our capital fund-raising – we couldn’t have made it
without him.”
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| TWO 79TH ID WW II WARRIORS MEET FOR FIRST TIME, 72 YEARS AFTER THEY BOTH WON PURPLE HEARTS ON THE SAME DAY, ON THE SAME BATTLEFIELD PATTY LONG HILL ARRANGED THE MEETING |
Decades after landing at Normandy, the paths of Doc Long and
Milton Stanfield finally crossed. Their
daughters, Patty Long-Hill and Emily Oakley, made it happen. Two World War II foot soldiers, two men of
strong faith, too long for their paths to cross, but the crossing left notes
and memories -- far beyond toasting with Cokes, spiked with salted peanuts.
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| WW II BAR-MAN, WWII BAZOOKA-MAN, & PEACE-TIME MARINE MILTON STANFIELD, DOC LONG, HARRY THETFORD 16AUGUST2016 |
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