In Tribute to One Soldier’s Personal Story on Memorial Day

Honoring True Courage

By Joshua Jenkins

     Ed Freeman wasn’t always a Medal of Honor recipient.  In the 1930s he was a clean cut American boy living in Neely, Mississippi who was fascinated with the servicemen performing military maneuvers near his home. He dreamed of joining the military and becoming a pilot. 

     When he was old enough, Ed enlisted in the United States Navy and served aboard the USS Cacapon during World War II.  When the war ended he returned to the United States and completed high school.  He joined the United States Army and served as an infantry man during the Korean War.  In Korea, he earned a battlefield commission and became a second lieutenant.  With the commission, he applied to flight school.  His first application was rejected because he was 6’4” therefore “too tall” to be a pilot under the U.S. Army height restriction at the time.  It was then he received his nickname “Too Tall”.  A few years later the height restriction was raised and Too Tall’s second application was accepted.  He was off to flight school.  He became a pilot and later served in Vietnam beginning in 1965.  By this time, he was a highly skilled helicopter pilot and placed second-in-command of a unit of sixteen helicopters—captain in Company A, 229^th Assault Helicopter Battalion in the First Cavalry Division (Airmobile). 

     On November 14, 1965, all hell broke loose in Ia Drang Valley.  Soldiers there were under severe, heavy, and intense enemy fire and were taking casualties and running low on supplies.  The fire around the landing zones was so extreme that the medical evacuation helicopters refused to land in the Valley and rescue the wounded.  The Commander, Major Bruce Crandall, called for volunteer pilots to fly into the hot zones.  Freeman was the only pilot to step forward. He set out to assist his overwhelmed brothers.  He made 14 trips carrying water, ammunition and evacuating dozens of wounded men. Without his service, most of the soldiers in Ia Drang valley could have died. During the trips, Freeman’s body was hit four different times by enemy fire. 

     As a result of his heroism, Freeman was a recipient of both the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Medal of Honor.  The Medal of Honor was awarded by the U.S. Army for gallantry and courage serving his county at great risk to himself. The citation reads as follows:

Captain Ed W. Freeman, United States Army, of Boise, Idaho, who distinguished himself by numerous acts of conspicuous       gallantry and extraordinary intrepidity on 14 November 1965 while serving with Company A, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). As a flight leader and second in command of a 16-helicopter lift unit, he supported a heavily engaged American infantry battalion at Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley, Republic of Vietnam. The unit was almost out of ammunition after taking some of the heaviest casualties of the war, fighting off a relentless attack from a highly motivated, heavily armed enemy force. When the infantry commander closed the helicopter landing zone because of intense direct enemy fire, Captain Freeman risked his life by flying his unarmed helicopter through a gauntlet of enemy fire time after time, delivering critically needed ammunition, water, and medical supplies to the besieged battalion. His flights, by providing the engaged units with supplies of ammunition critical to their survival, directly affected the battle’s outcome. Without them the units would almost surely have gone down, with much greater loss of life. After medical evacuation helicopters refused to fly into the area because of intense enemy fire, Captain Freeman flew 14 separate rescue missions, providing lifesaving evacuation of an estimated 30 seriously wounded soldiers-some of whom would not have survived had he not acted. All flights were made into a small emergency landing zone within 100 to 200 meters of the defensive perimeter, where heavily committed units were perilously holding off the attacking elements. Captain Freeman’s selfless acts of great valor and extraordinary perseverance were far above and beyond the call of duty or mission and set a superb example of leadership and courage for all of his peers. Captain Freeman’s extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

     After his service in Vietnam, Ed Freeman returned to the United States in 1966 and retired from the military.  He and wife moved to Idaho and he became a pilot for the Department of Interior.  During his career as a pilot he clocked seventeen thousand flight hours in helicopters and eight thousand in fixed-wing aircraft.

     On August 20, 2008, Major Ed W. “Too Tall” Freeman passed away and now rests in the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery.  May we all remember his life and honor his legacy.  His actions are a testament of what it takes to have true courage.