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Old 01-09-2009, 08:35 AM
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Default ED Freeman...A True Hero

January 08, 2009

Thursday, January 8, 2009, 7:49 AM Ed Freeman... A True Hero

You're an 18 or 19 year old kid. You're critically wounded, and dying in the
jungle in the Ia Drang Valley, 11-14-1965. LZ Xray, Vietnam Your infantry
unit is outnumbered 8 - 1, and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the MediVac 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 1/2 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, and you look up to see an un-armed Huey, but it doesn't seem
real, because no Medi-Vac markings are on it. Ed Freeman is coming for you. He's not Medi-Vac, so it's not his job, but he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire, after the Medi-Vacs 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 2 or 3 of you on board. Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire, to the Doctors and Nurses. And, he kept coming back...... 13 more times..... and took about 30 of you and your buddies out, who would never have gotten out.

Medal of Honor Recipient Ed Freeman died last Wednesday at the age of 80, in Boise , ID ......May God rest his soul.....(Oh yeah, Paul Newman died that day too. I guess you knew that --He got a lot more press than Ed Freeman.)

posted by Major Pain on OMV

Salute and God Bless You Ed Freeman
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  #12  
Old 01-09-2009, 09:50 AM
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Bill
They would not come in (either one , gun ships or Medivac) with Danger close arty, or fast mover support. At least that was my experiance. Night time was also difficult.

Ron
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Old 01-09-2009, 10:34 AM
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I do know they have been told at times the LZ was too hot and to delay until hostile fire could be suppressed. With a 30% KIA and almost 100% of the crew members WIA they took their share of risk. The became the subject of enemy attention when they went in. It got so bad, they started out with white crosses on their ships then went to green then just took the damn things off since it didn't matter to charlie. I have a nephew who was on a medevac crew in Iraq and I am not sure he believed me when I told him our guys went in during battles while there was firing still going on. He said they never went in without gunship support having suppressed all the enemy fire. I think it is a difference in the pattern of the combat. We have such a firepower superiority over the Hadjis that it doen't take long ever to quiet it down.

I know medevac is a generic term now but it wasn't for us back then. We used Dustoff for back transport to the evac hospitals. That way our guys were freed up to go to the battle zones. I always understood that was because Dustoff was unarmed and wasn't expected to go in LZs as hot as the armed Medevacs were. Medevac was just a platoon for the whole division but they went to anyone that called for them in our AO. We got ARVNS, 1st Infantry Division, 11th Armored Cav, 82nd Airbourne, Special Forces, civilians in moped wrecks (as many as five injured), NVA/VC's even a Frenchman or so.
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Old 01-09-2009, 11:20 AM
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Default Just google

SgtMaj Big Knife Johnson and you can read what I wrote about him and 1st Cav Medevacs. I wrote two different times about him and his Marine Platoon using the 1st Cav rather then their own. Both are on this site...so you can probably just put his name in here for a search.

One of my patients was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross 3 times in Vietnam. He was a 1st Cav Medevac pilot. He went in Hot LZ's, night flights, anytime there was a call. I forget how many times he was shot down....but it was more than 3. Don't know how he or any of those crew's survived. His best story is that when he got home from Nam the car rental agencies wouldn't rent him a car. He was just shy of being 21.

There were no better Medevac pilots and crew than the 1st Cav. The Cav basically invented it, even though there were some used in Korea....nothing like what happened with the creation of the Airmobile Division. As Doc Fred said, they'd pick up anybody. Just ask a lot of Marines that are alive today because of the Cav Medevacs when the Cav was up north.

These guys were truly heroes......no doubt about it.

Pack
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Old 01-09-2009, 02:09 PM
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Default SGTMAJ Big Knife Johnson

A big Hooah! to 1st Air Cav Medivacs and all the Doc Fred's and Hal's that took such great care of us. Thank you one and all.

In all my years of working with Veterans and Active Duty, you wouldn't believe how many times I heard from Marines that when the Cav was up North, they would set their freqs to the Cav band. They "always new the Cav would come when others thought it was too hot." SGTMAJ "Big Knife" Johnson, USMC (RET), was the base SGTMAJ for awhile at MCAS Beaufort. He told me a story of Cav Medivacs being gunned down and they still came to get his wounded. "Big Knife" served with 1/9 in Vietnam. Two Marine pilots heard him talking to me about how the Marine Chopper pilots wouldn't come in, "but those Cav boys came even after 2 were gunned down". The 2 Marine pilots said, "No disrespect SGTMAJ, but we don't believe that story". SGTMAJ replied, "Of course you don't.....YOU WEREN'T THERE!"

Pack
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Last edited by Arrow; 01-11-2009 at 10:48 AM. Reason: change color on keywords searched
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Old 01-09-2009, 02:11 PM
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Default God Bless Them Every One

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Old 01-09-2009, 07:42 PM
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Those guys had balls King Kong would envy.

I stand in awe of what they accomplished. If there was ever a group of Heroes it would be them.
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Old 01-10-2009, 05:28 AM
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Default Heroes!

My heroes are Doc Fred and Doc Hal! "I'm no hero, but I served in a company of heroes!"


Thanks Sis....I wouldn't even begin to know how to do that. So great having you back.

Pack
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Old 01-11-2009, 05:37 AM
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Great thread !! Thanks Doc Fred !!! Are you going to be on the Mountain in April ?

Sis....good to see you posting again !!! Happy New Year !!!

Larry
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Old 01-11-2009, 06:01 AM
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Default Larry

Doc Fred better be there or we'll just move the party to his house....He's only 3 hrs away
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