Unofficial Royal Enfield Community Forum
General Discussion => Campfire Talk => Topic started by: Cabo Cruz on November 01, 2009, 05:28:41 pm
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You're a 19 year old kid. You're critically wounded and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley. November 11, 1965, LZ X-ray, 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 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 fire - you faintly hear the sound of a helicopter. You look up to see an unarmed Huey, but it doesn't seem real because no MedEvac markings are on it. Ed Freeman is coming for you. He's not MedEvac; so, it's not his job, but 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.
Freeman drops his Huey 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, Idaho.
May God Rest His Soul.
P.S. I bet you didn't hear about this hero's passing, but we've sure seen a whole bunch about Michael Jackson and Ted Kennedy.
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Yes, Freeman was amazing.
The Ia Drang Valley was a butcher zone.
They should never have gone in there..
They were warned by recon in the area,but they went in anyway, and it was a horrorshow.
I have a very close friend that was on that recon duty with the 5th Special Forces MACVSOG that day, and he radioed well in advance that it was a trap.
They didn't listen.
But Freeman did a great service to save some of them that day.
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Lost for words.
What a bloke. Just glad that there are a still a few of them out there who do the good thing without thought for their own wellbeing.
They are so much better than the politicians who send them to those places.
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WOW Cabo, what a story and what a man!
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Cabo, I did read of his passing last year in August and there was a very nice obituary telling of his heroism in the Vietnam War. The portrayal of his heroism was detailed in the movie, "We Were Soldiers," was quite moving and I would say pretty accurate. You are correct when pointing out that the true American heroes are not recognized on the same level as celebrities in our media.
Idolatry is a real social problem. People maybe do not realize what they are doing but unconsciously do it nonetheless. The main problem is the mainstream media which has a choke hold on our society's everyday thoughts and perceptions. We can overcome this by using our own minds and perception to judge truth or deceit instead of some "talking head" doing it for us. This is something we will have to deal with on a consistent everyday basis for probably the rest of our lives or until there is a complete turn around in this country and it's society.
Until the powers to be take my mind from my total and complete control I will consciously form my own opinions to those presented to me by our media. Our forefathers would be shocked and horrified to what has been twisted from there ideals.
Long live freedom and the memory of those that have served and died in it's name.
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Amen, to all your posts, brothers!
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His nickname was Too Tall and because of his height he wasn't allowed to fly untill they changed the height requirments in 1955. He retired in 1966 and then flew for the Department of the interior for 20yrs. He finally received The Medal of Honer in 2001. Quite a guy. ERC
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Ed Freeman, I salute you Sir.
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And the British Army lost Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid this week in Afghanistan. An improvised explosive device detonated as he attempted to diffuse it.
He had previously dealt successfully with more than 60 similar devices.
He must have been under no illusions and would have known that one day his luck would run out, but he still went out and did that job.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/Afghanistan/article6899628.ece
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May God bring Olaf Schmid to His altar, Br. Chas.
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RIP.
That's gotta be one tough job!
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Its a shame to see such good men leaving us , God bless them both..
One of my coworkers sons does the same job for Airforce EOD... Talk about parental stress..
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And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest