Medal of Honor
winner visits local Legionnaires
By PETER
BOLTZ
Express Staff Writer
The U.S. Army told
Ed Freeman in 1953 that he was too tall to fly. But two years later, he
was flying anyway.
In 1965, the army
told Freeman that a landing zone in Vietnam was too dangerous to attempt
a landing. But he flew into it anyway, 14 times, supplying embattled
soldiers and bringing out the seriously wounded.
The army told
Freeman’s commander that Freeman was ineligible for a Medal of Honor
because a statute of limitations had expired. But on July 16, President
Bush will hang it around Freeman’s neck anyway.
Retired Maj.
Freeman was in town Wednesday night sharing stories and dinner with Wood
River Valley veterans at American Legion Post 115 in Ketchum.
Freeman, a Boise
resident who flew helicopters in the Big Wood Valley in the early 1970s
for Intermountain Helicopter, knows the area and the local Legionnaires
well. What he didn’t know was that they were going to recognize his
upcoming induction.
Freeman was
recommended for the Medal of Honor for flying 14 helicopter missions in
14 hours on Nov. 14, 1965, at the battle of Ia Drang in Vietnam.
The reason the
recognition has taken so long, he said, is that "you lose track of
people, of who did what in battle." And so he was not recommended
for the medal until it was too late.
Then, in 1995,
Congress lifted the statute of limitations on Medal of Honor
recommendations. As soon as it did, Freeman’s commander at Ia Drang,
Bruce Crandall, sent in the paperwork.
The citation of
his actions reports that then Capt. Freeman, knowing the landing zone
was already closed to helicopter operations because of intense enemy
fire, but ignoring the extreme risk to his life, "flew his unarmed
helicopter through a gauntlet of enemy fire time after time to deliver
critically needed ammunition, water and medical supplies to the besieged
battalion."
Without his supply
flights, the citation reports, the battalion "would almost surely
have gone down."
After dropping off
supplies, he would load up with the seriously wounded, 30 in all,
"some of whom would not have survived had he not acted."
Freeman said that
at the time he had no thought of any kind of medal.
"That kind of
thinking would just end you up in a body bag," he said.
Freeman was second
in command of the 229th Assault Helicopter Company, which had
40 helicopters at the time. When the call came for volunteers to relieve
the besieged men at Ia Drang, no one came forward except Freeman.
"I was
thinking I was going to die," he said.
"But you
know, there are only two rules of war. The first is that young men die.
The second is that you can’t change rule No. 1."
He said he was
humbled by the award, especially since there were a lot of young men who
died that day who deserve the medal more.
Freeman joined the
Army in 1948, and saw action in Korea at the battle for Pork Chop Hill.
He was one of 14 men of a 257-man company to survive the initial fight
for the hill.
In 1953 he tried
to get into flight training school. He said he had seen what happens on
the ground in war, so he wanted to get up in the air. But the Army told
him he was too tall at 6 feet 4 inches.
In 1955 the Army
changed its rules, and Freeman learned to fly helicopters and fixed-wing
aircraft. He also picked up the nickname "Too Tall to Fly."
Freeman’s story
is part of the larger story of the battle of Ia Drang, which is the
subject of the book "We Were Soldiers Once… and Young."
The book was
written by Ret. Army Lt. Gen. Harold Moore and Joseph Galloway. Moore
commanded the men of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, who did most of the
fighting at Ia Drang.
Galloway was the
only reporter present throughout the battle’s 34 harrowing days.
Freeman’s copy
of the book was inscribed by Moore.
"For Big Ed
Freeman, the legend known as ‘Too Tall to Fly.’
"Your heroism
will live forever in the history of the 7th U.S. Cavalry.
With highest respect, my old, beloved friend."
When it came time
for Freeman to speak to the Legionnaires, he said "I only did what
I was supposed to do, what I was trained to do."
He said he didn’t
have much more to say, and to emphasize this he recalled a story about
an eighth-grader who was assigned to give a speech about a hero.
"Caesar was a
great leader," the boy said. "Caesar won many battles. Caesar
talked too much. They shot Caesar."
In all the
laughter, Freeman went back to his chair.