Previous Articles

   THIS IS HAROLD LONG MONTH, TO CELEBRATE HIS MEMORY, WE HAVE ASKED ANYONE WITH A WEBSITE TO FEATURE HIM OR TELL A STORY ABOUT HIM. WE WILL BE RUNNING PREVIOUS ARTICLES, AS THEY STILL TELL THE STORY BEST AS I LIVED IT AND RECALL IT. I HOPE OTHERS DO THE SAME.
 

DENNY SHAFFER
JU-DAN

THE  FIRST  HAROLD  LONG
MEMORIAL  TOURNAMENT

"WE FEW, WE CHOSIN FEW, WE ETERNAL BAND OF BROTHERS"

 The Battle of the Chosin Reservoir

    15,000 allied ground troops, mostly the 1st Marine Division and Regimental Combat Teams from the Army's 7th Infantry Division, against 120,000 Chinese infantrymen concealed in the mountains around the valley town of Yudam-ni. There were nearly 500,000 North Korean troops immediately across the Yalu River. The ten Chinese Divisions were ordered to annihilate the 1st Marine Division and allies to the last man. The 15,000 allies suffered 12,000 casualties, including more than 3,000 killed and 6,000 wounded, plus thousands of severe frostbite cases from the -30 degree temperatures. They merged from the ordeal with a Presidential Unit Citation for, "decisively defeating seven enemy divisions together with elements of three others." The Chinese suffered an estimated 37,500 casualties, including 25,000 killed and 12,500 wounded.

    This is one of those events that you would have had to attend to fully appreciate. The event was split into two parts. The first was an open house at Harold Long Realty for the purpose of displaying Mr. Longs numerous awards with an informal gathering of his family, students, and friends to honor his memory. It had the atmosphere of a family reunion with the leader of the family sadly absent. It will always remain as one of my best experiences. The open house was expertly organized and hosted by the Long family, with the traditional,” “Long eye for every detail”, carried out. With the attendance of family, Students, friends, and well wishers,  the significance of honoring Mr. Longs memory, was never lost on anyone. In addition to the Longs and Master Joe Laney’s advanced preparation and hosting; Master Wayne Wayland showed a 100 plus picture slide show tribute to Mr. Long. It was the perfect tribute, which conjured up the best of memories and gave us a special feeling of his presence. Mr. Longs memorabilia will be used to present a record of his accomplishments to the Tennessee sports Hall of Fame, for induction consideration. Clearly he is qualified for this honor as an appropriate way to further acknowledge his incredible career in the field of athletics and the numbers of people who have benefited from his direction.

    Below are some of the pictures of the people that attended.

    There was no fall off from the night before during the tournament. It was a different concept of competing with a team shiai for the under black belts and a “winner take all”, kata and kumite for the black belts. There was only one place given. ..”First Place”!!! But! I can assure you of this. There were a lot of “first class” fighters that stepped in the ring. If you couldn’t or didn’t, want to go for real on this Saturday, then you were in a world of hurt.

Shaffer's Red Dragon Tournament team		Pictured with Master Shaffer: Light-Heavy Division Winner; Austin McAdams Heavy Weight Division Winner & Grand Champion Runner Up; Leon Scott
Kata Grand: Ty Welborne	Women's Grand: Theresa Barnette		Men's Grand: Tony Williams