3/20/2023 0 Comments Captain ed freeman![]() ![]() The family wishes to thank the wonderful staff at St. Services are under the arrangement of Alden-Waggoner Funeral Chapel. ![]() A committal service with full military honors will follow at the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery. Ed's life will be celebrated on Saturday, Aug. ![]() Ed was preceded in death by his parents, Caroline and William Ed Freeman, his brothers Pete, Joe, Loren and sisters Miriam, Louise, and Marcella. and brother Charles Freeman of Mobile, Ala. Ed is survived by his wife of 54 years, Barbara Freeman, his sons Mike (Anita) Freeman and Doug (Tina) Freeman, four grandchildren, Cori (Brad) Dalton, Scott Freeman, Haylee Freeman, all residing in Boise and Joshua Freeman of San Diego, Calif., three great-grandsons, Cooper and Bronco Dalton, and Trace Freeman, of Boise, as well as his sister, Betty Waters of Warner-Robbins, Ga. Then he retired altogether, deciding to spend time with his family. He flew helicopters another 20 years for the Department of the Interior, herding wild horses, fighting fires, and performing animal census. Freeman left Vietnam in 1966 and retired from the Army the following year. For these actions, Ed was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor on July 16, 2001, by President George W. In all, Freeman carried out fourteen separate rescue missions, bringing in water and ammunition to the besieged soldiers and taking back dozens of wounded, some of whom wouldn't have survived if they hadn't been evacuated. Because their small emergency-landing zone was just one hundred yards away from the heaviest fighting, their unarmed and lightly armored helicopters took several hits. He was joined by his commander, and the two of them began several hours of flights into the contested area. When the commander of the helicopter unit asked for volunteers to fly into the battle zone, Freeman alone stepped forward. In fact, the fighting was so fierce that Medevac helicopters refused to pick up the wounded. Back at base, Ed and the other pilots received word that the soldiers they had dropped off were taking heavy casualties and running low on supplies. 14, 1965, Ed's helicopters carried a battalion into the Ia Drang Valley for what became the first major confrontation between large forces of the American and North Vietnamese armies. ![]() He was second in command of a sixteen-helicopter unit responsible for carrying infantrymen into battle. After logging thousands of hours in choppers, Ed was sent to Vietnam in 1965, assigned to the 1st Calvary Division (Airmobile). Ed began flying fixed-wing aircraft, then switched to helicopters. However, standing at 6'4", the 6'2" height restriction prevented him from being eligible, earning him the nickname "Too Tall." In 1955, the Army regulations changed, thus allowing Ed to attend flight school. He took part in the Battle of Pork Chop Hill and was awarded a Battlefield Commission, which enabled him the opportunity to apply to flight school. He was a Master Sergeant in the Army Corps of Engineers, but he fought in Korea as an infantryman. Upon return to Neely, Ed graduated from high school and then enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served on the USS Cacapon for two years. Ed and Barbara had two sons, Mike, born in 1956 and Doug, born in 1962. He married Barbara Morgan on April 30, 1954. 20, 1927 to William Ed and Caroline Freeman in Neely, Miss. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, Idaho, due to complications from Parkinson's Disease. Army, Retired) Medal of Honor Recipient Major Ed W. Medal of Honor Recipient, Captain Ed Freeman, United States Army, died at the age of 81, in Boise, Idaho.Major Ed W. Some would not have made it without the Captain and his Huey. He took 29 of you and your buddies out that day. No one knew until the mission was over that the Captain had been hit 4 times in the legs and left arm. And, he kept coming back!! 13 more times!! Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire to the doctors and nurses and safety. He’s coming anyway.Īnd he drops it in and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 3 of you at a time on board. He’s not MedEvac so it’s not his job, but he heard the radio call and decided he’sįlying his Huey down into the machine gun fire anyway.Įven after the MedEvacs were ordered not to come. It doesn’t seem real because no MedEvac markings are on it. Then - over the machine gun noise - you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter. Your family is half way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you’ll never see them again.Īs the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day. You’re lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns and you know you’re not getting out. Your unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense from 100 yards away, that your CO (commanding officer) has ordered the MedEvac helicopters to stop coming in. You are critically wounded and dying in the jungle somewhere in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam. ![]()
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