Ed Freeman, Medal of Honor Winner died last Wednesday at the age of 80, in Boise, Idaho.
You're a 19 year old kid. You're critically wounded and dying in the jungle in the IaDrang Valley , 11-14-1965, LZ X-ray , Vietnam. Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8 - 1 and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the MediVac helicopters to stop coming. You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns you know you're not getting out. Your family is 1/2 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 an un-armed Huey!!
But.... it doesn'tseem real because no Medi-Vac markings are on it. Ed Freeman is coming for you..!! He's not Medi-Vac so it's not his job, but 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 2 or 3 of you on board. Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire to the Doctors and Nurses. And, he kept coming back..!! 13 more times..!! He took about 30 of you and your buddies out who would never have gotten out.
Medal of Honor Recipient, Ed Freeman, died last Wednesday at the age of 80, in Boise , ID
May God Rest His Soul.
I bet you didn't hear about this hero's passing, but we have seen a whole bunch about some white-gloved persons' passing. Shame on the American Media..!!
Edward Freeman, a former Army helicopter pilot awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroics during the Vietnam War and portrayed in the Mel Gibson movie “We Were Soldiers,” has died. He was 80. Doug Freeman said his father died Wednesday in Boise from health complications due to Parkinson’s Disease after spending several weeks undergoing treatment. The Mississippi native braved intense enemy fire in the Ia Drang Valley as he carried out rescue missions on Nov. 14, 1965, during what was considered one of the fiercest battles of the Vietnam War.
After an Army battalion was surrounded by enemy forces, Freeman flew his unarmed helicopter through enemy fire to evacuate 30 seriously wounded soldiers and bring them to safety. He also delivered water, ammunition and supplies. Actor Mark McCracken portrayed Freeman in the 2002 film.
Freeman was 73 years old when President Bush awarded him the Congressional Medal of Honor at a White House ceremony in 2001.During the ceremony, Bush said Freeman initially won the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions, but his commanding officer and other witnesses believed he deserved an even higher honor.In a statement, Doug Freemen described his father, who lived in Idaho for the last 30 years, as a “humorous person with a lot of integrity. “People could relate to him,” Doug Freeman said. “He made an impression on people. ”Lt. Col. Tim Marsano, with the Idaho National Guard, said funeral services have been scheduled for Saturday. Freeman will be buried at the Idaho Veterans Cemetery in Boise. Freeman was born in Neely, Miss., in Perry County, in 1927 and was a graduate of Washington High School. He was the sixth of nine children.After his retirement from the Army, Freeman served as a pilot for the U.S. Interior Department and retired a second time in 1991. He also flew as a civilian pilot with the National Interagency Fire Center, which is located in Boise.
You're a 19 year old kid. You're critically wounded and dying in the jungle in the IaDrang Valley , 11-14-1965, LZ X-ray , Vietnam. Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8 - 1 and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the MediVac helicopters to stop coming. You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns you know you're not getting out. Your family is 1/2 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 an un-armed Huey!!
But.... it doesn'tseem real because no Medi-Vac markings are on it. Ed Freeman is coming for you..!! He's not Medi-Vac so it's not his job, but 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 2 or 3 of you on board. Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire to the Doctors and Nurses. And, he kept coming back..!! 13 more times..!! He took about 30 of you and your buddies out who would never have gotten out.
Medal of Honor Recipient, Ed Freeman, died last Wednesday at the age of 80, in Boise , ID
May God Rest His Soul.
I bet you didn't hear about this hero's passing, but we have seen a whole bunch about some white-gloved persons' passing. Shame on the American Media..!!
Edward Freeman, a former Army helicopter pilot awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroics during the Vietnam War and portrayed in the Mel Gibson movie “We Were Soldiers,” has died. He was 80. Doug Freeman said his father died Wednesday in Boise from health complications due to Parkinson’s Disease after spending several weeks undergoing treatment. The Mississippi native braved intense enemy fire in the Ia Drang Valley as he carried out rescue missions on Nov. 14, 1965, during what was considered one of the fiercest battles of the Vietnam War.
After an Army battalion was surrounded by enemy forces, Freeman flew his unarmed helicopter through enemy fire to evacuate 30 seriously wounded soldiers and bring them to safety. He also delivered water, ammunition and supplies. Actor Mark McCracken portrayed Freeman in the 2002 film.
Freeman was 73 years old when President Bush awarded him the Congressional Medal of Honor at a White House ceremony in 2001.During the ceremony, Bush said Freeman initially won the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions, but his commanding officer and other witnesses believed he deserved an even higher honor.In a statement, Doug Freemen described his father, who lived in Idaho for the last 30 years, as a “humorous person with a lot of integrity. “People could relate to him,” Doug Freeman said. “He made an impression on people. ”Lt. Col. Tim Marsano, with the Idaho National Guard, said funeral services have been scheduled for Saturday. Freeman will be buried at the Idaho Veterans Cemetery in Boise. Freeman was born in Neely, Miss., in Perry County, in 1927 and was a graduate of Washington High School. He was the sixth of nine children.After his retirement from the Army, Freeman served as a pilot for the U.S. Interior Department and retired a second time in 1991. He also flew as a civilian pilot with the National Interagency Fire Center, which is located in Boise.
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1 comment:
We are all diminished by his passing but ever grateful that he lived. Thank you for honoring him.
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