Family receives deceased son's lost military shadow box

Charlie Long never again expected to see the American flag that draped his son’s coffin or the military service ribbons that once were prominently displayed on the deceased airman’s dress uniform.

But a combination of dedicated American Legion members, a little detective work and some restoration finesse has permanently reunited the Ohio father with his beloved son’s military shadow box, which was found in an abandoned rental property in Winter Garden a few months ago.

The homeowner discovered the keepsake while cleaning out the shed at his rental home and knew this was something significant that should be with the family, so he dropped off the box and its contents at the American Legion Post 63, in Winter Garden.

Post Commander Kurt Gies said he discovered the deceased man’s name — Charles Michael “Mike” Long Jr. — and the funeral home that handled the arrangements, and from there he was able to contact the father.

On Thursday, March 14, in a tearful exchange at the Winter Garden post, Commander Gies returned the box to its rightful owners — the late Mike Long’s father, Charles “Charlie” Long Sr., and Mike’s son, Charles “Trip” Long III.

About 16 other family members were there, too — including his grandparents, aunts and uncles, his sister, his former fiancée and his 11-year-old son — from Ohio, Georgia and Orlando.

STAFF SGT LONG

Mike Long followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and joined the military. He served in the U.S. Air Force as a canine handler for the military police. He had been in the USAF for 13 years and was a staff sergeant stationed at Valdosta Air Force Base at the time of his death.

Long, 30, was visiting family in Orlando when he was killed in a motorcycle crash on Sept. 3, 2007 — his father’s birthday. He was engaged to be married, and his fiancée was five weeks away from giving birth to a son he would never meet.

Though Charlie Long was given full custody of his son when he was a toddler, it is military protocol to give the funeral flag to the mother. Long was grateful to receive another American flag and stamped copies of the shadow-box contents, but these precious mementos were lost in a 2012 house fire.

The distraught father was left only with memories.

But that would change seven years later when Charlie Long received the phone call from the Winter Garden American Legion post.

When the post received the original shadow box earlier this year, it was dusty and damaged and the interior was covered in mold. Tildenville Marketplace owners carefully restored the box and cleaned the contents. Gies intended to ship the box to Charlie Long, but the man was so grateful that strangers would go to such lengths to get it returned to him that he decided to visit the American Legion in person.

“I can’t put this into words,” Charlie Long said. “It means everything. That boy was my life.”

Long and his wife, Donna, live full-time in their motorhome and will keep the newly discovered shadow box in their RV until it’s time to hand it down to their grandson. They have restored Mike’s motorcycle and one day will give that to Trip, as well.

“To see the expression on Charlie Long’s face solidified that what we did was special,” Gies said. “The box and flag now look amazing. But more importantly, it’s back home where it belongs.”

Trip’s mother has kept the memory of his father alive, and the boy knows his dad was an admirable man. He said he’s proud to be related to him.

“It makes me feel like he did something great and I can one day be like that,” Trip said.

The Longs are grateful to the American Legion and all the people involved in getting this special memory box returned to them.

“Charlie couldn’t understand how people who didn’t know his son went to such an effort for him,” Gies said. “I told him that as a fellow veteran, we may not have ever met him, but we definitely know who he was.”