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A Great Hero in my Book.
You're a 19 year old kid.
You're critically wounded and dying in the jungle somewhere in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam .
It's November 11, 1967.
LZ (landing zone) X-ray.
Your unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 yards away, that your CO (commanding officer) has ordered the MediVac helicopters to stop coming in.
You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns and you know you're not getting out.
Your family is half way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you'll never see them again.
As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.
Then - over the machine gun noise - you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter.
You look up to see a Huey coming in. But ... It doesn't seem real because no Medi-Vac markings are on it.
Captain Ed Freeman is coming in for you.
He's not Medi-Vac so it's not his job, but he heard the radio call and decided he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire anyway.
Even after the Medi-Vacs were ordered not to come.
He's coming anyway.
And he drops it in and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 3 of you at a time on board.
Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire to the doctors and nurses and safety.
And, he kept coming back!! 13 more times!! Until all the wounded were out. No one knew until the mission was over that the Captain had been hit 4 times in the legs and left arm.
He took 29 of you and your buddies out that day. Some would not have made it without the Captain and his Huey.
Medal of Honor Recipient,Captain Ed Freeman, United States Air Force, died last Wednesday at the age of 70, in Boise , Idaho .
May God Rest His Soul.
I bet you didn't hear about this hero's passing, but we've sure seen a whole bunchshitabout Michael Jackson and Tiger Woods, American Idol etc.
Medal of Honor Winner
Captain Ed Freeman
Shame on the American media !!!
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I thought he was in his 80's when he passed away a couple years back??? Could be wrong though. None the less he is a true American hero.
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He was definitely a rare breed.
But you do realize he died in 2008 right?
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Freeman
Ed W. "Too Tall" Freeman (November 20, 1927 - August 20, 2008) was a United States Army helicopter pilot who received the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in the Battle of Ia Drang during the Vietnam War. During the battle, he flew through gunfire numerous times, bringing supplies to a trapped American battalion and flying dozens of wounded soldiers to safety. Freeman was a wingman for Major Bruce Crandall who also received the Medal of Honor for the same missions.1
Freeman was born in Neely, Perry County, Mississippi, the sixth of nine children.[1] He grew up in nearby McLain[2] and graduated from Washington High School.[1] He served in World War II[2] and reached the rank of first sergeant by the time of the Korean War. Although he was in the Corps of Engineers, he fought as an infantry soldier in Korea. He participated in the Battle of Pork Chop Hill and won a battlefield commission as one of only 14 survivors out of 257 men who made it through the opening stages of the battle. His second lieutenant-bars were pinned on by General James Van Fleet personally. The commission made him eligible to become a pilot, a childhood dream of his. He then took over B-Company and led them back up on Pork Chop Hill. However, when he applied for pilot training he was told that, at six feet four inches, he was "too tall" for pilot duty. The phrase stuck, and he was known by the nickname of "Too Tall" for the rest of his career.[3]
In 1955, the height limit for pilots was raised and Freeman was accepted into flying school. He first flew airplanes before switching to helicopters. After the Korean War, he flew the world on mapping missions before Vietnam. By the time he was sent to Vietnam in 1965, he was an experienced helicopter pilot and was placed second-in-command of his sixteen-craft unit.[3] He served as a captain in Company A, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile).[4]
On November 14, 1965, Freeman and his unit transported a battalion of American soldiers to the Ia Drang Valley. Later, after arriving back at base, they learned that the soldiers had come under intense fire and had taken heavy casualties. Enemy fire around the landing zones was so heavy that the medical evacuation helicopters refused to fly in to the landing zone. Freeman and his commander, Major Bruce Crandall, volunteered to fly their unarmed, lightly armored helicopters in support of the embattled troops. Freeman made a total of fourteen trips to the battlefield, bringing in water and ammunition and taking out wounded soldiers.[3]
Freeman was sent home from Vietnam in 1966 and retired from the military the next year.[3] He settled in the Treasure Valley area of Idaho, his wife Barbara's home state,[2] and continued to work as a pilot. He used his helicopter to fight wildfires, perform animal censuses, and herd wild horses for the Department of the Interior[3] until his final retirement in 1991.[1] By then, he had 17,000 flight hours in helicopters and 8,000 in fixed-wing aircraft.
Freeman's commanding officer nominated him for the Medal of Honor for his actions at Ia Drang, but not in time to meet a two-year deadline then in place.[3] He was instead awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.[1] The Medal of Honor nomination was disregarded until 1995, when the two-year deadline was removed. He was formally presented with the medal on July 16, 2001, by President George W. Bush.[3]
Freeman died on August 20, 2008 due to complications from Parkinson's disease.[1] He was buried in the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery in Boise.[2]
In the 2002 film We Were Soldiers, which depicted the Battle of Ia Drang, Freeman was portrayed by Mark McCracken.[1] The post office in Freeman's hometown of McLain, Mississippi, was renamed the "Major Ed W. Freeman Post Office" in March 2009.[2]
Medal of Honor citation
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...h_army_mil.jpg http://bits.wikimedia.org/skins-1.5/...gnify-clip.png
Army version of the Medal of Honor
Freeman's official Medal of Honor citation reads:
“Captain Ed W. Freeman, United States Army, distinguished himself by numerous acts of conspicuous gallantry and extraordinary intrepidity on 14 November 1965 while serving with Company A, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). As a flight leader and second in command of a 16-helicopter lift unit, he supported a heavily engaged American infantry battalion at Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley, Republic of Vietnam. The unit was almost out of ammunition after taking some of the heaviest casualties of the war, fighting off a relentless attack from a highly motivated, heavily armed enemy force. When the infantry commander closed the helicopter landing zone due to intense direct enemy fire, Captain Freeman risked his own life by flying his unarmed helicopter through a gauntlet of enemy fire time after time, delivering critically needed ammunition, water and medical supplies to the besieged battalion. His flights had a direct impact on the battle's outcome by providing the engaged units with timely supplies of ammunition critical to their survival, without which they would almost surely have gone down, with much greater loss of life. After medical evacuation helicopters refused to fly into the area due to intense enemy fire, Captain Freeman flew 14 separate rescue missions, providing life-saving evacuation of an estimated 30 seriously wounded soldiers -- some of whom would not have survived had he not acted. All flights were made into a small emergency landing zone within 100 to 200 meters of the defensive perimeter where heavily committed units were perilously holding off the attacking elements. Captain Freeman's selfless acts of great valor, extraordinary perseverance and intrepidity were far above and beyond the call of duty or mission and set a superb example of leadership and courage for all of his peers. Captain Freeman's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.[4]”
[edit] Military awards
His awards include:
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A HERO indeed!!! He will be missed.
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SALUTE to a real hero goodbye Captain, your mission is over. [Salute]
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A true reason to fly em at half mast!!! I belive ill have a beer for him.[Beer]
