Medal of Honor Winner Captain Ed Freeman

[Niehart]

"The greatest tragedy is not death, but life without purpose."

You're a 19 year old kid.

You're critically wounded and dying in the jungle somewhere [Dak To] 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, :fan_1: United States Air Force, died last Wednesday at the age of 70, in Boise, Idaho.

May God Bless and Rest His Soul.

 

[Fontanaman]

Thank you for sharing this. May Captain Ed Freeman rest in peace. What the world needs is more people like Captain Freeman.

Respectfully,

Fontanaman

 

[RacinRay]

There is a more complete bio on wikipedia Here This man also served in WWII, Korea before Vietnam. He was awarded the Medal of Honor by President George W. Bush in 2001.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Isn't he the helo pilot depicted in "We Were Soldiers"?

The sacrifice and bravery of some men cannot be matched.

May he rest in peace!!

 

[Auburn]

AMEN! Took way too long to award him the MOH. Thankfully he was alive to recieve it.

 

[MCRIDER007]

AMEN! Took way too long to award him the MOH. Thankfully he was alive to recieve it.

Unfortunately, many Vietnam vets did not get the recognition they deserved because the criteria for a MOH at that time seemed to be that it had to be witnessed and reported by a member of the Associated Press. It took Freeman way too long to get his MOH but the Distinguished Flying Cross that he did receive is the highest honor the military can award. Freeman actually died in August 2008 at the age of 80.

 

[SacramentoMike]

Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Dave. We don't hear about men like this often enough, with the news so focused on the steroid athletes, the Kardashians and Lohans, and the never-ending squabbling from all the political candidates.

I don't want to take a thing away from this tribute to Mr. Freeman, but his story made me think of a good friend from my high school, Tony Paskevich, who won the Navy Cross for what sounds like similar actions. Please take a look. I'm proud I knew him.

 

[Patriot]

Isn't he the helo pilot depicted in "We Were Soldiers"?

"Snake" in "We Were Soldiers" is (now LtCol) Maj Bruce P Krandell who also saved a multitude of soldiers at the battle of la Drang. He told me he met Ed Freeman, but didn't actually fly with him as they were always in separate flights/sorties.

Crandall was assigned to the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, 7th Space Forces, A Co., 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion. On November 14, 1965, he led the first major division operation of the Vietnam War landing elements of the 1st Battalion and 2nd Battalion of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, and the 5th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, into Landing Zone X-Ray in Vietnam's Battle of Ia Drang. During the fierce battle that followed, he was credited with evacuating some 70 wounded soldiers along with wing man Major Ed Freeman. Twelve of these fourteen flights were made after the Med Evac unit refused to land in the intensely hot landing zone. Crandall's helicopters evacuated more than 75 casualties during a flight day that started at 6:00 a.m. and ended at 10:30 p.m., more than 16 hours later.[5]

The two also flew in the ammunition needed for the 7th Cavalry to survive. The craft he was flying was unarmed.[2] Crandall was initially awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross[6] and on February 26, 2007, this was upgraded to the Medal of Honor, awarded by President George W. Bush in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House.[7]

I met LtCol Krandell in May 2010 at the annual Trail of Honor and Run For The Wall Celebration in Jackson, MS.

3 things all the 8 MOH recipients I have met to shake their hand in gratitude have recited:

we are RECIPIENTS...We didn't win anything

we are NOT heros, we wear the medal for the real heros: each who didn't come home

it will amaze you what anyone can and will do if they get pissed off enough

 

[monkin]

Rest in Peace Captian.