montie Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Please read all the way though and learn about a true American Hero! 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 MedEvac 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 MedEvac markings are on it. Captain Ed Freeman is coming in for you. He's not MedEvac 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 MedEvacs 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 Bless and Rest His Soul. I bet you didn't hear about this hero's passing, but we've sure seen a whole bunch about Lindsay Lohan, Tiger Woods and the bickering of congress over Health Reform. Medal of Honor Winner Captain Ed Freeman Shame on the media !!! Honor this real hero. "Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints on your heart.." -Eleanor Roosevelt Love, The Muffster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
private mw Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 wow a story ive never heard what a hero , r.i.p . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snort Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 I am speechless, wow, what a man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevpol Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 R.I.P. a true hero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Indeed. He put himself in so much danger to help others. He should have grown way older in health and happiness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosie Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Wow what a hero RIP X Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bovington1 Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets, You've done your time in Hell." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big ray Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 What a tragedy that we do not have the capacity to bestow all of this deserved adulation upon these people when they are in a position to appreciate it, this was obviously one super human being who put the welfare of his fellow countrymen above any consideration for his own safety, may he rest in peace. Such people restore your faith in human nature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timbo Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Rip a true hero... Apparently the local post office is named after him! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bart615 Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 RIP Sir, a true hero. I salute you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H1HU Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Ed Freeman actually died in August 2008. Ed was known to his fellow helicopter pilots as 'Too Tall'. He and Bruce Crandall featured very heavily in the film 'We were Solidiers' based on the Joe Galloway book 'We were soldiers once, and young'. The events of that battle in in Vietnam in 1965 featured in the Devisive Weapons programme on the Huey last saturday (you can watch it on BBC I Player0. The programme was made in 1996 so has got the main players interviewed in it. Ed and Bruce received their MOH's in 2001 after a ruling over a time frame for being recommended for the medal was removed in the 90's. This is the citation for Ed Freeman's MOH 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. H1HU Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Bloody hell! I'd have a job following his example! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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