On this Good Friday, 2009 I thought it would nice to honor a man who performed above and beyond.
It is 14 November 1965, you are a 19 year old kid, you are severely wounded, and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley, Landing Zone (LZ) X-ray, in South Vietnam. Your infantry unit is outnumbered eight to one and fighting one of the best units in the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). You can hear the steady rat tat tat of the machine gun fire 100 or 200 yards away; it is so intense that your infantry commander has ordered the med-e-vac helicopters to stop coming in.
You are lying there; listening to the M60s and NVA machine guns and you know you are not getting out of this firefight alive. Your life flashes before your eyes and you wish you were back in the good ole USA with your family 12,000 miles away. You know you will never see them again. You are losing blood and fading in and out of consciousness and you cannot grasp what is real. Then you hear something strange; you must be back at Ft. Benning at jump school. It is the constant sound you heard day and night at Benning. It is a strange whirling sound and it is far in the distance.
Above the noise of the machine guns, M16s, AK47s, grenades, RPGs and the din of battle you faintly hear the unmistakable sound of a Huey. Are you dreaming? Is this something bizarre sent to torture a dying man? Through the smoke above your prostate, bleeding body, you vaguely see a Huey. No, this Huey isn’t real, it’s a mirage, and it is a flashback to Benning. The loss of blood must be tricking your brain. Med-e-vacs have large Red Crosses on them; this Huey has no Red Cross markings.
Suddenly, two of your buddies pick up your torn, crumpled body and run with you, the pain is excruciating and you think the NVA is coming to finish everyone off. Shock is setting in and you cannot think clearly, you must be passing to the next life. What is the huge gust of wind hitting your face? Is this the tunnel to the next life? It must be the morphine kicking in. No, this must be real….. there really is a Huey dropping in. Are these guys crazy, they are getting raked with NVA machine gun and AK fire! They are just sitting there like ducks…..they can’t be waiting for me. Dam, oh my God, they are loading me and two or three other soldiers in the chopper. Tears fill your eyes, thank you Lord Jesus.
This is truly a miracle; the Huey springs up like an elevator and suddenly swerves above the tree line and the deadly sound of gunfire ebbs.
In a few minutes the Huey lands and nurses and doctors immediately assess and attend to your wounds. You hear the doctors shouting out medical commands. It has taken all your human energy to stay awake. You know the last thing a soldier wants to do is fall asleep in combat. Suddenly, the combat stress falls off you like beads of jungle sweat and you lapse into dreamlike unconsciousness.
The next day when you wake up you ask the nurse about the mysterious Huey. The nurse tells you the pilot was Ed Freeman. You search your memory but you can’t remember an Ed Freeman. The nurse says Ed went back thirteen more times! You mumble to her, your frickin crazy, nobody does that! You tell the nurse get out here, who would do that? The nurse says, hey, buster, no bullshit, he took out thirty guys like you. If it weren’t for Ed and his crew none of you would have gotten out alive. As the nurse tends to your dressings she finishes the story.
You learn Ed was not a med-e-vac pilot. It's wasn’t his job to fly his Huey down into the machine gun fire. In fact, the med-e-vacs were ordered not to go but Ed said he was going. He said it was his duty to go and help GIs. Ed disobeyed orders for you.
Now you have goose bumps all over your body and you are crying. You think where do such brave people come from? There is no way you can repay Ed and his crew.
ATTENTION: ALL MILITARY HANDS AND PATRIOTS TO MILITARY ORDERS
It is with a heavy heart and tears in my eyes, that I must report that a member of the U.S. Army, a fellow soldier, a veteran of the war in South Vietnam and Medal of Honor recipient, Ed Freeman has been ordered to redeploy.
Ed, you are hereby ordered to report to your division commander with your duffel bag and military orders for lift-off on the next Huey. Ed, you will report to your next duty station and the officer of the day, General Gabriel, without delay.
Ed, you are further ordered to report to five-star General Peter with your military orders and latest efficiency report (OER).
Ed, your mission here on earth is complete and your division commander will present you with your battle ribbons and other awards for your distinguished service. In the addition the Lord has seen fit to award you his highest decoration, an eternal crown for combating evil.
Ed, we will miss you because we knew we could depend on you in a life and death combat situation. You were indeed, an army of one and you never quit! You always brightened up our days with a joke or a funny story.
On behalf of all the veterans who served in South Vietnam and Southeast Asia, God bless you from all of us, God bless the United States of America and God bless the U.S. Army.
By the way, Ed, your next duty station heaven is permanent. Do not play golf with Jesus. General Westmoreland said he is better than Tiger Woods!
CW4 Al Singler, U.S. Army retired
Major Ed W. "Too Tall" Freeman (November 20, 1927 - August 20, 2008) was a United States Army helicopter pilot who served in combat during the Battle of Ia Drang during the Vietnam War. “Too Tall” served with 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division. During Ia Drang battle med-e-vac pilots refused to enter the battle area because of the intense enemy fire. “Too Tall” flew his unarmed chopper through gunfire numerous times, bringing supplies to a trapped American battalion and flying dozens of wounded soldiers to safety. Freeman was a wingman for Major Bruce Crandall who also received the Medal of Honor for the same missions.
“Too Tall” also served in WWII, The Korean War and at Pork Chop Hill; Mark McCracken played “Too Tall” in the movie “We Were Soldiers.”
Medal of Honor Recipient, Ed Freeman, died 20 August 2008 at the age of 80, in Boise, Idaho “Too Tall” was not awarded his medal of honor until 16 July 2001.
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