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Old Salt
Posts: 403
Location: Sacramento/Twain Harte | Subject: NSR
Nice story about a real hero.
Ed Freeman
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.....
Define a Veteran
A 'Veteran' - whether active duty, discharged, retired,
or reserve - is someone who, at one point in his or her
life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United
States of America,' for an amount of 'up to, and including
his or her life.'
That is honor, and there are way too many people in
this country today, who no longer understand that
fact.
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1796
Location: Albany, GA. | Subject: RE: Hero dies with little mention, but they honor an actor.
Ed Freeman died on August 21st. He flew an unarmed supply Huey in and out of the Idrang fight fourteen times. Bringing in water and ammo, and leaving with wounded. He was within 200 yards of the lines, easy range for an AK or an RPK. Anybody remember even reading about it? How about the movie? You remember that? Now they raise a big deal about Paul Newman, an actor. Yet they didn't even feel Ed Freeman's death was worth a mention. Sometimes you gotta wonder about our values.
Edited by Sewer Pipe Snipe 2008-09-29 1:42 PM
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 602
Location: Visalia, Ca. | Subject: RE: Hero dies with little mention, but they honor an actor.
Ah..... I see your point, but Paul Newman is a poor example to cite.
It gets glossed over in most of the obits I have seen, but they do mention that Paul Newman was a WWII Navy Vet.
He may not have saved as many lives as Ed Freeman, but his films made a lot of people happy, and his charitable foundations, funded by the profits from "Newman's Own" brand foods, made life a lot more bearable for a lot of sick and disabled children.
He served, and went on to make the world a better place for his having been here.
I don't begrudge him the attention or the accolades.
Yes, Ed Freeman's death should have gotten wider notice.
But WE, who also served, WE know, WE remember, and We honor his service.
And that just might be a more fitting tribute for him.
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 566
Location: Inyokern, Ca. | Subject: RE: NSR
Well put Don. Paul Newman was a great human being for his charitable work, a fine actor, and a WWII vet!
Ed Freeman was a bona fide Hero any way you look at it. Neither should be besmirched because of the media choice on who to cover.
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Senior Crew
Posts: 121
Location: Western Washington State | Subject: Bruce Crandall was Ed Freeman's pilot
Ed Freeman was not the pilot on those missions.
http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/citations_living/vn_a_freeman.html
He received his MOH before the pilot on the request of the pilot.
Ed Freeman's pilot received his MOH last year.
Bruce Crandall He lives here in Western Washington.
http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/citations_1960_vn/crandall_bruce.html
Edited by donmac 2008-09-29 11:54 PM
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 781
Location: Port Orchard WA | Subject: RE: NSR
Don Both Crandall (as Mission Leader) and Freeman (as Crandalls wingman) flew these missions into Ia Drang Valley See the movie/book We Were Soldiers Once and Young. Moore and Galloway (who co authored the book) are supposed to publish a new book called Soldiers Still Greg Kinner in the movie play Cranll and Freeman was the character (for the most part) called To Tall played by Mark McCraken Crandall declined the MOH (as I heard the story) initially. It was given to Freeman (in 2001) first at the insistance of many of the survivors he saved then Crandall was awarded his MOH (in 2007) |
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NSR
