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.....