Harold Long was born in January 1926 in Lawrence, Kansas. He grew up in southern Illinois during the Great Depression with two sisters. His father was a college president at a small college. Long entered Greenville College in southern Illinois when he was 17 years old, but he was eager to join the service with his friends. He was called for active duty on 1 July 1943. He then enlisted in the Navy's V-1 program [Annotator's Note: V-1 US Navy College Training Program], and then was sent to pre mid-shipmen school in November 1944 for three months, and then shipment school in the spring of 1945. He was in school at Harvard [Annotator's Note: Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts] when the war in Europe ended. He remembered everyone was celebrating.

When Harold Long graduated from Harvard [Annotator's Note: Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts], he was commissioned into the Navy as an ensign. He was then sent to the Philippines and assigned to the Sea Frontier Unit, or PHILSEAFRON, where he was the Communications Watch Officer at a communications station in Manila [Annotator's Note: Manila, Philippines]. Many of the officers who were married, were returning home, so Long became an essential worker because he was single. He recalled the city being in horrible condition but got along well with the local population. He recalled trading cigarettes for souvenirs with the natives. He also remembered when General Eisenhower [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower, Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force; 34th President of the United States] came to visit the island. He commented that Eisenhower was a very down to earth guy and got along well with many of the troops. Long enjoyed playing competitive ping pong while in Manila. On 4 July 1946 he boarded a transport ship for the journey back to the United Sates. The trip took him 36 days. He was discharged in 1946 then returned to school on the G.I. Bill for several years.

Harold Long married his wife during his time in college while working on his master's in accounting. After the war, he ran into some of the men that he served with in the Philippines. In his retirement life, he picked up tennis which he played in high school and college. Long has no regrets about serving in the Navy and feels he matured greatly during those years.