Passing of Ed Freeman

[Chaplain]

> 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
> Medi-Vac 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 Wednesday August 20 at the
> age of 80, in Boise, ID......
>
> May God rest his soul.....
>
>
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
>


Admit Edt: Ace

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:
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.