Veterans Voice: Steve Long

(this story related by Roger Durant)

Early on a February morning, a Cessna 02A Skymaster taxied up the arming ramp. Roger Durant of Cameron armed the rocket pods and handed the locking pins to pilot Lt. Steve Long, saluted him, and sent him on his mission over Laos. Durant noticed that there was an E-8 in new jungle fatigues in the cockpit. His name was Douglas Morrell.

About 3 hours later Durant was notified that the plane was shot down, hit by a 37 mm anti-aircraft shell, taking out the rear portion of the plane. Sgt. Morrell bailed out first, later reporting he was partially shoved by Lt. Long. It was hostile territory near the Mugia Pass.

 Long had flown 60 combat missions in Vietnam before transfer to Thailand for operations in Laos. Author George Vieth (author of “Operation Bright Light”) said it was rare for downed pilots shot down in Laos to be recovered alive. Of 600 Americans shot down in Laos, only about 2.5% survived. Vieth believes that one reason that Long and the other captured pilots shot down in Laos was that they were captured by well-disciplined North Vietnamese troops who knew the bargaining value of an American prisoner.

Operations in Laos were conducted against the infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail through which the North Vietnamese transported food, weapons, ammunition, and troops for incursions into South Vietnam. Pilots were warned that in the event of being captured, the U.S. participation in Laos would be denied.

It was learned that Sgt. Morrell landed safely and was able to avoid North Vietnamese patrols. Lt. Long was not so lucky. He temporarily lost consciousness (perhaps hitting his head during bailout) and only managed to open his parachute seconds before hitting the ground. He broke his femur as he landed. He pulled in his chute and was searching for a hiding place when he was surrounded by North Vietnamese troops. Armed with only a .38, he realized resistance was futile.

During training pilots had been told that if they were shot down there would be plenty of jungle in which to hide. But he quickly learned the area had been bombed so heavily, there was hardly a tree in sight.

He was ordered to stand, and when he did (could) not, they kicked him viciously. When they realized he had a broken leg, they dragged him to a cave where he stayed under guard for the next few days. He was moved to a second cave where a truck picked him up and transported north.

The wooden splint applied by the enemy did not hold bone and did not heal. The truck stopped in a small village where he was pelted by rocks and struck with sticks. Two weeks later they took him up the Ho Minh Trail to Hanoi. He was tortured, beaten until unconscious. When he came to, they would repeat the process. Eventually he was taken to a hospital, received surgery on his leg and had the bone set.

He was put in a full body cast, and another prisoner placed in the cell to assist him. After 6 weeks the body cast was removed and he received a leg cast which was removed in another 6 weeks. When he was eventually able to stand, he was ordered to the shower—his first shower in three months.

It was while in the shower that he discovered there were other pilots in the prison. They developed a tapping code in order to communicate with one another. Some had been there for 5 years and anxiously wanted news from the outside. Steve was there for 49 months. When other prisoners of war were released, the 10 pilots were not. Since they were shot down in Laos, the United States did not acknowledge their existence publicly.

Long said, “I spent 18 months in solitary confinement. I was beaten and hung on a wall. I was fed two bowls of soup a day, and rice on Sunday’s.  Long’s family, and that of other prisoners were only told that their family member was “missing in action”. Long acknowledges that he was engaged in covert operations, and technically had no reason to be in Laos—nor did the North Vietnamese.

When they were eventually released, they were loaded on a bus for transportation to the airport, fully expecting they would be executed on the way. However they did board a plane and were taken to the Philippines. It was there he learned his wife had divorced him and had taken all the money he had received while in Hanoi.

Once back to active duty, he flew F-4’s almost every day until a Colonel asked him if he wanted a different job. He then began flying the F-105 “Wild Weasel”—armed with radar-seeking missiles and tasked with the destruction of enemy radar sites and surface-to-air missiles.

From there, he became a flight simulator instructor on the F-117 Night Hawk, the stealth fighter jet. To his disappointment, he never actually flew one.

Following military duty, Steve went to work for the State of Nevada Veteran Affairs and was living in Las Vegas.

After his capture, Lt. Long was described as MIA (missing in action) or possible KIA (killed in action). For 30 years Roger Durant tried to find out what happened to Lt. Long. Durant used social media to eventually learn that Long had survived. About the year 2000 Durant finally made contact with Steve and developed an enduring friendship. He made a point of meeting up with Steve whenever he was in Las Vegas, until Steve’s death in August of 2018.

At one lunch meeting in Las Vegas, Steve told Roger’s daughters, “Your father was the last free man I saw for 49 months”. That is something Durant will always remember.