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Post by jimpadgett on Jul 28, 2013 23:56:48 GMT 9
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 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, United States Air Force, died last Wednesday at the age of 70, in Boise , Idaho
May God Bless and Rest His Soul
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Post by Diamondback on Jul 29, 2013 0:40:21 GMT 9
Vaya con Dios, "Too Tall."
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MOW
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Post by MOW on Jul 29, 2013 5:10:19 GMT 9
Rest in Peace Capt!
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Post by Jim on Jul 29, 2013 10:20:24 GMT 9
A very brave man, who was honored for his actions.
He certainly went Above and Beyond the Call of Duty in saving those lives.
Major Freeman died in August 2008, not last Wednesday.
The Wiki article is here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Freeman
Jim Too From Pastor's source, quote: Ed W. "Too Tall" Freeman (November 20, 1927 – August 20, 2008) was a United States Army helicopter pilot who received the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in the Battle of Ia Drang during the Vietnam War. During the battle, he flew through gunfire numerous times, bringing supplies to a trapped American battalion and flying dozens of wounded soldiers to safety. Freeman was a wing-man for Major Bruce Crandall who also received the Medal of Honor for the same missions.
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Post by Diamondback on Jul 29, 2013 14:18:27 GMT 9
all around... the world is still the poorer without him, though.
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