Joseph F. Longmore

Former Northampton supervisor recalls The Cold War.

By Petra Chesner Schlatter, BucksLocalNews.com


U.S. Army Spec. 5 Joseph F. Longmore, 76, of Northampton Township may have been stateside during his time in the service, but his experience in the military changed his life forever.

He did not travel to foreign countries. He did not fight any battles. Yet, being in the Army gave him a chance to hone his skills, and focus on taking charge and making changes.

Today, Longmore, a former Northampton Township supervisor, looks back at the time he was in the service during the Cold War which lasted from 1947 to 1991.

In 1950, he had been “called down” when he was still in high school at age 17. He graduated in 1951. That was during the Korean War. But, he was told to wait. The war was coming to the end.
Longmore served two years of active duty from 1956 to 1958, two years in the active reserves from 1958 to 1960 and two years inactive reserves from 1960 to 1962. The whole commitment was for six years.

Longmore was the only one of his group who went on to Fort Meade after basic training at Fort Dix. At Fort Meade, his job was electronic processing of information, which involved mainly the inventory systems for supplies. He dealt with the quantity of rifles and tanks around the world that were assigned to the 2nd Army.

They dealt with “all the things that an army needs. We created reports in the process that went up to people that made decisions,” Longmore said.

“We did the job,” he said. “We did what we were asked.”

And Longmore said he and his teammates changed procedures. “We made presentations to the lieutenant and the captain: ‘This is what we can do.’ And, they accepted,” he noted.

He described The Cold War as “a different kind of a war. You’re out there fighting as a young service person. You start to live with the danger and you start to accept it.”

There were two world powers – the Soviet Union and the United States. “We were trained in a lot of things. We had some exposure to what an atomic bomb would do in reality,” Longmore said.

“They were telling the kids in the homeland to go under their desks,” he said. “None of that was feasible when you see the destructive power of an atomic bomb.

“You recognize at that time you felt safe,” Longmore said. “We were the only ones that had it, but by the 60s and 70s, other people had it.”

He said that the attitudes differed from what they are today. “There was a lot more love of country.”

Longmore said President Ronald Reagan, who served two terms from 1981 to 1989, had the power to help bring the Cold War to a conclusion. He said it was “incredible” to see what happened between Russia and the United States, and to see the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Reagan, he said, was “a leader capable” of using the strength of the United States. “It sure looked like life would be better – absolutely – with the conservative view on things.”

When asked who his two favorite presidents are, Longmore said Reagan and George W. Bush. He said Reagan “loved America. He made you feel good about America…

“It was quite visible that Reagan believed in the heart of America and the good people that made it up and they understood what it meant to be free,” he said.

“Bush was willing to defend the country after we were attacked in 2001, trying to protect the country from a nuclear explosion in the United States,” Longmore said. “That’s still a huge threat in this country. It goes off the people’s radar screen.”

He recommends reading the book, “We Still Hold These Truths – Rediscovering Our Principles, Reclaiming Our Future,” by Matthew Spalding, which is about the founding fathers and how their ideals still hold true.

He is critical of the current administration. He said the country is headed toward socialism. He fears that government is getting too big.

Longmore said that he enjoys freedom. “I grew up in a great America. I would like to think my grandkids would get the same feeling about America,” he said.

Longmore knows firsthand about public meetings and local government, having been a supervisor in Northampton Township from 1974 to 1980. He served when the area turned from agrarian to suburban.

Thirty years later, though Longmore no longer holds public office, he advocates people getting out and vote. “It is important for the people to understand the power of one vote, because if everyone votes you have a collective group that can change destiny.”

Looking back, he said, “The military service was one of the better things that happened in my life,” Longmore noted. He was single at the time of his service, and married Shirlee afterwards.
Shirlee and Joe have five sons and ten grandchildren. They moved to Holland in 1970. Longmore grew up in the Frankford section of Philadelphia.

Two of their sons were in the service, like their father. Joseph was in the U.S. Navy Seabees and Michael was in the U.S. Air Force.

All of their children graduated from Council Rock High School, which is now Council Rock North.