Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Courage--Who's A Hero To You?


You're a 19 year old kid.

You're critically wounded and dying in the jungle somewhere in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam.

It's November 11, 1967.
LZ (landing zone) X-ray.

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'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 a Huey coming in. But ... It doesn't seem real because no MedEvac markings are on it.

Captain Ed Freeman is coming in for you.

He's not MedEvac so it's not his job, but he heard the radio call and decided 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.

And he drops it in and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 3 of you
at a time on board.

Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire to the doctors and nurses and safety.

And, he kept coming back!! 13 more times!!
Until all the wounded were out. No one knew until the mission was over that the Captain had been hit 4 times in the legs
and left arm.

He took 29 of you and your buddies out that day. Some would not have made it without the Captain and his Huey.

Medal of Honor Recipient, Captain Ed Freeman, United States Air Force, died last Wednesday at the age of 70, in Boise, Idaho.

May God Bless and Rest His Soul.

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

Medal of Honor Winner

Captain Ed Freeman

Shame on the American media!!!

I don't often share my emails on here, but this I thought was really good and should be shared.  Other real heroes in my opinion are firefighters, teachers, paramedics, doctors and nurses and any other rescue workers.  Who are your heroes?

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5 comments:

Sandee said...

I feel exactly the same way as you do. Exactly. What is happening to our country? There are no respect anymore for our hero's.

Thanks for posting this. It made me smile. :)

tahtimbo said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
tahtimbo said...

I can't believe it! He lived just a few miles from us and I didn't hear a word about it on our local news. Shame on them, because he was truly a hero.

The Silver Age Sara said...

What an incredible man and such an inspiration. The men and women in the military are my heroes. They face incredible hardships yet their love for our country keep them going.

I agree with you about all the tawdry stuff we here on the news. So uncalled for in such depth.

Karen and Gerard said...

Sandee: Thanks for your support! Glad you think this was worth posting too.

Tahtimbo: That is surprising you didn't hear about him when he lived so close to you.

Mountain Woman: Guess most people are more interested in entertainment than real life. When I'm having a bad day, I just think of the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and those in war-torn countries and it puts my troubles in perspective real quick, especially since I read Winter Garden.

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