Ed Freeman

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 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 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 an unarmed 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 anyway.

Even 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!!

He 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.

I bet you didn't hear about this hero's passing, but we've sure seen a whole bunch about Tiger Woods . . .






Medal of Honor Winner
Ed Freeman

....that is the story of a real hero. I had seen something about him on the Military Channel awhile back. I got a lump in my throat reading your story. People like that are what fighting for freedom and liberties of our countries are all about. He risked everything, and at his age, he put the lives of young kids ahead of his own family. God rest his soul...and you know there will be many to join him later to thank him for the lives they would have never had.

I did some research on this ... It may be true that he went in 14 times after the main LZ was closed and an emergency LZ established further from the perimeter; I read that Freeman actually flew in a total of 21 times and took 70 or more wounded out while also bringing in ammo, medical supplies, food and water. No one ordered him to do this, he did it because it was the right thing to do. Real heros always know what to do

His actual passing was in August 2008, may he rest in peace

May God Bless Mark, his family, and all our veterans through out our history. Many of these are heroes only known to god, but surely share a special place in our hearts and minds.

Bill Thomas & Family

Thank you Ed, that fight was just up the road from us in OZ

Great story with one correction.

Medal of Honor RECIPIENTS take offense to being called winners.

The Medal of Honor, as we all know holds the highest regard of respect through the military, so much respect that if a private recieves the medal and walks by a 4 star General or Admiral, they must salute the medal of honor recipient first, unless of course that general also holds the medal on his chest.

Great story.