Major Ed Freeman

**Gun Boat** · 19 Apr 12,, 10:06

Just got this as an email (better late than never). He past in 2008 ageed 80.

Balls of Steel.

***

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 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 heard a whole bunch about Whitney Houston, Lindsay Lohan, Dr. Murray, that sicko Sandusky, and a 72- day sham marriage.

Shame on the media !!!

Medal of Honor Winner Captain Ed Freeman

Now... YOU pass this along. Honor this real hero.

Please.

***

14 trips and shot 4 times? More something you would see in a movie than real life.

**zraver** · 19 Apr 12,, 11:02

He joined the navy when he was 14, served durign WWII, then went home and finished high school. He then joined the army and fought as an infantryman (he was an engineer) at Porkchop Hill and was one of only a few14-30 effectives of K and L 31st infantry and G company 17th Infantry companies. It during this this battle where he earned a battlefield commission.

He didn't just fly out wounded, he flew in supplies and kept the US troops supplied so they could fight back. That probably saved more American lives than the medevac actions. He retired in 1967 as a master aviator but only had the DSC. He would not be awarded his CMoH for a couple of decades, Bush 43 would drape that pale blue ribbon around his neck on him in 2001.

By the time he stopped flying at all he had 25,000 hours, 8,000 fixed wing and 17,000 rotary.

**Doktor** · 19 Apr 12,, 11:14

Why his decoration was postponed so much?

Is there a possibility to fly a helo with wounded leg(s)?

**dave lukins** · 19 Apr 12,, 13:38

Originally Posted by Doktor

Is there a possibility to fly a helo with wounded leg(s)?

You can when you are a hero. There should have been a bunch of MoH medals waiting for him.

**Gun Boat** · 19 Apr 12,, 14:12

From what I understand the Huey had bugger all armor. Small arms could penetrate all the cockpit glass and cargo area. Google tells me that the pilot seats were armoured though...

Why did it take so long for him to get the MOH. Seems a massive oversight. Some sort of bureaucracy nonsense?

**bigross86** · 19 Apr 12,, 14:31

The Daily Nightly - MEDAL OF HONOR: ED W. FREEMAN

In the aftermath of the Ia Drang battle, his commanding officer, wanting to recognize Freeman's valor, proposed him for the Medal of Honor. But the two-year statute of limitations on these kinds of recommendations had passed, and no action was taken. Congress did away with that statute in 1995, and Freeman was finally awarded the medal by President George W. Bush on July 16, 2001.

**dave lukins** · 19 Apr 12,, 14:45

Originally Posted by bigross86

The Daily Nightly - MEDAL OF HONOR: ED W. FREEMAN
Freeman was finally awarded the medal by President George W. Bush on July 16, 2001.

I hope the President was humbled and honoured to finally issue that medal.

**Albany Rifles** · 20 Apr 12,, 15:16

While agree with the sentiments regarding his deserving of an award for his bravery, I disagree totally with word that there was no mention of him or his story. I saw his story on CBS nightly news and heard of his passing on National Public Radio. It was also covered in every newspaper in Idaho and picked up as a side bar story in many papers nationwide (saw it in the Richmond Times-Dispatch) and it was on the CNN website.

S2 · 21 Apr 12,, 22:29

Probably closer to November 11, 1965 when Freeman was performing his extraordinary acts of mercy. That is, unless there's another Ia Drang battle cranking up about the same time the 173rd Airborne were becoming deeply engaged at Dak To. Don't think so.

**sourkraut115** · 22 Apr 12,, 03:50

Just for the record, Major Freeman was NOT an Air Force officer, as stated in that piece. He was an Army Aviator. I do wonder how this MOH fell through the cracks, and why so many did back then.

**bigross86** · 22 Apr 12,, 09:31

Originally Posted by sourkraut115

Just for the record, Major Freeman was NOT an Air Force officer, as stated in that piece. He was an Army Aviator. I do wonder how this MOH fell through the cracks, and why so many did back then.

The Daily Nightly - MEDAL OF HONOR: ED W. FREEMAN

In the aftermath of the Ia Drang battle, his commanding officer, wanting to recognize Freeman's valor, proposed him for the Medal of Honor. But the two-year statute of limitations on these kinds of recommendations had passed, and no action was taken. Congress did away with that statute in 1995, and Freeman was finally awarded the medal by President George W. Bush on July 16, 2001.

**zraver** · 24 Apr 12,, 06:02

Originally Posted by sourkraut115

Just for the record, Major Freeman was NOT an Air Force officer, as stated in that piece. He was an Army Aviator. I do wonder how this MOH fell through the cracks, and why so many did back then.

One reason there are so few MoH being awarded now is that when you comb back through the records the valor is there but the actual events did not even come close to transpiring the way the commendations read. I never got to read the full report so I am guessing here, but I think commanders who single out the hero and then inflate, conflate or speculate on the action to make it even more heroic so it would get noticed.

**lemontree** · 09 Jul 12,, 12:38

Truely...the man had balls of steel.

**tankie** · 10 Jul 12,, 14:24

Originally Posted by zraver

One reason there are so few MoH being awarded now is that when you comb back through the records the valor is there but the actual events did not even come close to transpiring the way the commendations read. I never got to read the full report so I am guessing here, but I think commanders who single out the hero and then inflate, conflate or speculate on the action to make it even more heroic so it would get noticed.

Jeez how much more could action like that get overflated , truly a hero

RIP MOH