i just got this email from my bro in Columbus, OH. to all you Nam vets, you may know him or of him. RIP to a hero!

.....................................
You 're an 18 or 19 year old kid. You're critically wounded, and dying
in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley, 11-14-1965. LZ Xray, 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 in.

You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns, and 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, and you look up to see a Huey, but it doesn't seem 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, 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..... and 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.....

Semper Fi Ed Freeman. You get a pass with Honor Guard at the gate.

This should have made front page national news but I have not heard of it until now.

Thank you a million times over for your unselfish service to this country. We veterans are very thankful for people like you that gave so much of themselves. Rest in a very deserved peace. Thank you brother!

To choked for words,

Thank you for the story.
Dawg

Only one word for a man like this - HERO!

God bless and rest that weary Warrior! Men like that are hard to find. Isn't he one of the pilots that was in the movie We Were Soldiers?

I can't find the words.

Thank you Sir.

Yes Rarely He was one of the pilots that portray in the movie WE WERE SOLDIERS.It sadded me today to hear of his passing. He flew for the 229th assault helicopter with 1st CAV. My company flew missions with the 229th but it was in 1968 and I remember them talking about ED FREEMAN from 1965 in operation room before some of are mission.Another thing alot of us didn't know was he wasn't awarded the MOH till 2001 by President BUSH .That was very sad to here it took that long to reconize such a great HERO.May you REST IN PEACE ED FREEMAN YOU DID YOUR JOB WELL GOD BLESS YOU. Here's more of his story.
The Passing of an American Hero: Ed Freeman

Ed W. “Too Tall” Freeman died on August 20, 2008. He was a United States Army fixed- and rotary wing aircraft pilot who received the Medal of Honor for action in the Battle of Ia Drang in 1965. As a helicopter pilot, he flew through gunfire more than 20 times during a single, ferocious battle, bringing supplies to a trapped battalion of United States soldiers and flying more than 70 wounded soldiers to safety. Freeman flew wingman for Major Bruce Crandall who also received the Medal of Honor for the same missions. He is also honored in the film We Were Soldiers and is played by Mark McCracken.

Ed Freeman (left) is congratulated by President George W. Bush after receiving his award.

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:

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.
Medal of Honor recipient Ed Freeman dies

Chris Butler / Idaho Statesman file photo

Below: Veteran Ed Freeman, Medal of Honor recipient, salutes at a World War II memorial event held Memorial Day weekend 2004 at the Idaho Military History Museum.

August 21, 2008

Idaho Statesman

As Ed “Too Tall” Freeman lay ill in a Boise hospital over the past few weeks, many came to pay their respects to the 80-year-old national war hero and former helicopter pilot.

One unexpected visitor offered a very personal thank you to Freeman, a veteran of three wars and recipient of the highest military award — the Congressional Medal of Honor — for his actions on Nov. 14, 1965, at Landing Zone X-Ray, Ia Drang Valley, Vietnam.

“A guy came into the hospital and said, ‘You don’t know me, but I was one of those people you hauled out of the X-Ray,’” said Mike Freeman, 54, one of Ed’s two sons. “He said, ‘Thanks for my life.’ “

Freeman died Wednesday.

His Medal of Honor citation credits him with helping save 30 seriously wounded soldiers in 14 separate rescue missions in an unarmed helicopter.

Since the Medal of Honor was created during the Civil War, 3,467 have been awarded, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

The heroics of Freeman and the others involved in the Ia Drang campaign are immortalized in the Mel Gibson movie “We Were Soldiers,” which is based on the book “We Were Soldiers Once … And Young.” A sequel, “We Are Soldiers Still,” was released this month.

Freeman, a Mississippi native who married an Idahoan, began his military career at 17 with a two-year stint in the Navy during World War II.

“He joined the Navy and hated it. The ocean thing was not his bag,” Mike Freeman said.

So he joined the Army, serving four years in Germany before getting deployed to the Korean conflict.

The 6-foot-4 tell-it-like-it-is Southerner got the name “Too Tall” because he was told he was too tall to be a pilot. That didn’t stop him from pushing to fly.

“He was tenacious about getting into flight school. He drove them insane until they let him in,” Mike Freeman said.

He proved his mettle by becoming one the Army’s most heralded helicopter pilots. Two streets at Fort Rucker, Ala., where Freeman trained to be a helicopter pilot, were recently named in honor of Freeman and Maj. Bruce P. Crandall, his commanding officer in the Ia Drang campaign.

In the early 1960s, Freeman served as aviation adviser to the Idaho Army National Guard.

“He was a super instructor. He was not one of these guys who get excited very easily,” said retired Maj. Gen. Jack Kane, former commanding general of the Idaho National Guard.

Kane, a second lieutenant in 1963-64, got his first helicopter lessons from Freeman. Decades later, Kane attended the 2001 Medal of Honor ceremony for Freeman at the White House.

“It was, really, a super-moving moment,” said Kane, who was in a meeting at the Pentagon when Freeman called to invite him to the ceremony.

Freeman retired from the military in 1967 and a few years later moved to Idaho with his wife, Barbara, and sons, Mike and Doug. But he didn’t give up flying. He went to work for the Department of Interior’s Office of Aircraft Services.

Mike Freeman said his dad made sure that helicopter pilots contracted by Department of Interior agencies were up to snuff.

“Anyone who flew for the government had to get past him,” he said.

Freeman retired from flying in 1991 with more than 25,000 hours of flying time, including 18,000 in helicopters, according to his family and a 2002 newsletter published by the Idaho Military Historical Society and Museum. That’s nearly three years in the air.

Freeman became a highly sought-after speaker, and he still gets hundreds of letters each year from admirers of all ages.

He rarely missed Friday lunches at Boise’s Din Fung Buffet, where a group of Purple Heart veterans met each week for the past seven years.

“We’re a bunch of loose cannons. We have our own opinions, but everything is in jest,” said Dick Bengoechea, 84, who was a U.S. Army tank driver in Germany during World War II.

On Friday, a miniature helicopter and Medal of Honor book will be placed at the head of the group’s table in memory of Freeman.

One of the traits Bengoechea admired about Freeman was his candor.

“He didn’t care about rank,” Bengoechea said. “If he thought he was right, he didn’t care if he told a general he was wrong. He was a man’s man.”

Freeman, a Republican who his son says was anything but politically correct, was much more than a great patriot.

He was a devoted family man whose many passions included Volkswagens (he had many over the years, including The Thing) and fly fishing with his grandson, Scott.

In the past year and a half, Parkinson’s disease ravaged Freeman’s body. With the help of his sons, he was able to live at home until he became gravely ill three and a half weeks ago.

“He was a caring guy who cared about his family,” Mike Freeman said. “I’ll miss that a lot.”

GOD HAS WELCOME YOU HOME.

quote:

Originally posted by mainedawg:
Thank you for the story.
Dawg

my honor to post it Dawg, wish it wasn't the story of his passing, though

Norm, thanks for posting that story. it was way moree informative than mine, and i passed it on to my bro so he can keep it going

RIP Capt Freeman, we salute your memory and your actions. Thank you.

Its sad to see such HEROES go unmentioned until their death. I'm glad that the story in We Were Soldiers is based really close to what happened so that I have an understanding of what some of these brave men did in their time in service.

Thank you Ed "Too Tall" Freeman for you selfless service.

~ Ed Freeman ~

quote:

Originally posted by MissU2:


~ Ed Freeman ~

I return the salute with honor Ed Freeman.

quote:

Originally posted by Hercules1944:

quote:

Originally posted by MissU2:


~ Ed Freeman ~

I return the salute with honor Ed Freeman.

My hat is off and a salute to a man with a big heart and apparently, a large caliber pair.