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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. Your unit is outnumbered
8-1 and the enemy’s fire is so intense
from 100 yards away, that your commanding
officer has ordered the Med-Evac
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 the sound of a helicopter. You
look up to see a Huey coming in. But,
it doesn't seem real because no Med-Evac
markings are on it.
Capt.
Ed
Freeman is coming in for you.
He's not Med-Evac 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 Med-Evacs were
ordered not to come, he's coming anyway.
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 to
safety.
And, he kept coming back !!
13 more times!!..until all of 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 (Major, Ret.), United States Army, died Wednesday, August 20, 2008, at the age of 80, in Boise , Idaho.
May
God Bless and Rest His Soul.
You probably did not hear about this
hero's passing, but we've sure seen a whole bunch about
Lindsay Lohan, the Super Bowl, and the
bickering of Congress over Health Reform.
Author
Unknown
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(November
20, 1927 - August
20, 2008) |
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COMMAND PILOT WINGS |
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Shame
on the American media !!!
Remember
and Honor
This
Real American Hero |
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Freeman's
official Medal of Honor citation reads:
"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." |
