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54 years ago Vietnam War LZX Nov.14 1965
54 years ago Vietnam War LZX Nov.14 1965
We lost a lot of good men
Vietnam War LZX Nov.14 1965
To hell with Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda in North Vietnam
Run Time 1:30 m
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnFVFz9d6vU
Rembering MAJ. Ed Freeman, (TWO TALL) Medal of Honor, Vietnam War
The Battle of Ia DrangValleyLZX Nov.14 1965
Run time 6:30 M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdDYNI7V0co
Medal Of Honor Tribute -Ed Freeman.wmv
Run Time 8:00 M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj-TQwigdkI
Uploaded on Nov20, 2009
Ed Freeman is a Medal Of Honor recipientbecause of his heroic actions on November 14th, 1965 in the Ia Drang Valley, Republic Of Vietnam. He constantly put his personallife in peril 14 times to save over 30 wounded soldiers in battle. When hepassed away on August 20th, 2008, there was little mention of his passing bythe media as there were Crooked Politicians, bad Hollywood Stars and numerousother hum drum stories to report instead. This tribute is not only for EdFreeman, but for all of the Medal Of Honor recipients who may have goneunnoticed by the media. May they never be forgotten, ever.
Medal of Honor winner Ed Freeman died with no mediaattention Published on Feb 22, 2014
Run time 2:50 m
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkbyhWqReYY
Sgt MacKenzie - We WereSoldiers Soundtrack with Lyrics
Run time 4:39 M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB2Ad04mukI
Cyclics, Souls, Service andShepherds
by KeithNightingale
Journal Article | February 17, 2015 - 7:39pm
Cyclics,Souls, Service and Shepherds
Keith Nightingale
Lost in the noise and emotionsof the recent demonstrations in St Louis and New York was aremembrance of the services provided for all those engaged souls by a man whoprovided them before most of the demonstrators were born. It was theanniversary of the passing of Ed “Too Tall” Freeman, Congressional Medal ofHonor winner and a true shepherd of the National flock. With him went therepresentation of what our many- tapestried Nation is all about. It isworth remembering not only what he did, but why he did it and what it ought tomean for all of us. His life was a coalescence of events, impressions andservice over time absent heroics, ego or demonstration. He was given ourNation’s highest award for specific actions on a specific day, but he probablybelieved his true reward was the continued life and service of those he saveddirectly and to those others to whom he gave hope by his presence on the worstday of their lives.
Ed was the sixth of ninechildren in rural Mississippi. By his 13th year, he saw the thousands of citizens dressed in new Army OliveDrab called into service for WW II. He quickly decided this was what hewanted to do--He wanted to serve, and he wanted to wear a uniform. HisMother signed a false birthdate statement for the Navy admission but would notfor the Army. His brother was in the Army and had paid for it. Edsailed on a fleet oiler in the Pacific and became part of something much largerthan himself. After the war, he was discharged but joined the ArmyReserve. Within an eye blink of a life’s span, he was shipped to Korea as aFirst Sergeant of Engineers. This was a very difficult time for the US in Korea, fighting vastly outnumberedunder the toughest of infantry conditions--a far distance from the relativelysedate and comfortable life of an Able Seaman on a fleet oiler. Hiscombat Engineer unit was attached to an Infantry battalion and was asked tofight as infantry on a scorched, bald, steep piece of ugly real estate calledPork Chop Hill -- forgettable to most but unforgettable for those that foughtfor its twisted contours and fractured ridge lines.
Ed and his engineers attacked,defended and defended again to the point of utter exhaustion but ultimateresolute victory. After several days, his unit that began with 257soldiers was reduced to 14 effectives, of which Ed was one. Thesenior USCommander, General James Van Fleet, personally gave Ed a battlefield commissionon the reverse slope of the hill that he and his soldiers had fought so bravelyto keep. As the new ranking officer, he led his reconstituted forceback up the hill to hold what had been so dearly won. At that moment intime, Ed didn’t know that he would again see, smell and feel Pork Chop Hill andthe desperate dedicated ghosts of his soldiers, far away in a very differentplace and time.
Ed had always wanted to fly,and his commission opened that possibility to him. The problem was, asthe Army informed him, that at six feet four inches he was too tall for flightschool--the name “Too Tall” remained forever. By 1955, the Army becameless picky, and Ed went to fixed wing school and later transitioned to rotarywing. It was as a helicopter pilot that all his previous sailing andInfantry experience would provide the foundation for his incomparable service.
By 1965, Ed was a seasonedpilot and began his third war in service to the Nation. This time, herode to battle as a pilot for the new airmobile cavalry on a different horse,the UH-1 “Huey”. His stable was Company A, 229th Assault HelicopterBattalion, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). He carried the latestgeneration of conscript and volunteer soldiers chosen to continue the historiclineage of the 7th Cavalry to a dot on a large folded, mostly green map clippedto his kneeboard, circled with a red grease pencil and named LZ X-Ray.
X-Ray, in the arcane languageof military map reading, is at Yankee Alpha 935010. It was selected asmuch by guesswork as by hard intelligence, but it was likely near significantnumbers of the enemy, as it was astride a large, looming mountain mass, the ChuPong Massif, which reached into Cambodiaand was probably a major infiltration route to the vital coastal plain. Thecavalry would conduct a traditional reconnaissance and “develop thesituation.” Ed and his fellow aviators piloting a covey of Huey’s wouldbe the means of transport.
The LZ was fairly open andsloping toward the massif. It was broken by small trees, grasses andlarge mud termite mounds, reddish pink against the tawny green of thescrub. Bound on all sides by the deep green of the jungle, this LZ was asgood as most in the waning morning hours of 14 November 1965. BruceCrandall, Ed Freeman and the crews of A/229 pushed down their cyclics and swunginto a scattered trail formation and touched down on the waving and burninggrasses to unload the first of their soldiers from 1st Battalion, 7thCavalry-Custer’s own. The air was fairly heavy with the usual Vietnamhighlands’ combination of heat and humidity making the aviators’ densityaltitude (lifting) issues a problem. The birds shook and shudderedas they weaved their overloaded course into the irregular grasslands laden withsweating, fully-loaded and adrenalin pumped soldiers on their first majormission since departing Ft Benning, Georgia. Thankfully, it wasnot initially a hot LZ in terms of enemy fire. That was about tochange. What also would change was that Bruce and Ed would transition theirpositions as pilots and become shepherds of their flock--the flock they hadjust brought to a seemingly serene pasture.
The shepherds would be sorelyneeded. By noon, X Ray became alive with enemy in all directions. Each subsequent lift brought in new troops to the fast-heating caldron. Whathad been a benign LZ was now an intense inferno of crossfire, green and redintertwined tracers, “crumps” of grenades and RPG’s with deep resonant throbsof friendly artillery and PAVN mortars. Helicopters were pelted withshrapnel and bullets, crews were wounded, and very quickly a tenuous situationbecame untenable. What had been an eight ship LZ was quickly consumed byenemy encroachment and interlocking fires.
The shepherds ignored realityand rules and shot a combat approach to an improbable one ship LZ in order toreplenish their flock. Steadily, as the day wore on, the hasty perimeterswere reduced as casualties mounted. The carnivorous volumes of fireexpended the meager sources of ammunition each soldier carried. In theintense heat, combined with adrenalin and wounds, water became an extremelyrare and prized commodity.
The red-crossed evac birds,distinct from the lift ships, made an initial entry onto this contestedground. Shortly after noon, the second ship landed, took rounds andhastily pulled pitch and departed. The pilot, with heavy breath andstrong emotions, described the condition of the LZ from a pilot’sviewpoint. Quickly, the evac lift commander declared the area too dangerousto land and ceased to respond to requests. At this moment, Bruce and Eddecided that what was happening on the ground demanded their personalcommitment to affect the desired outcome. An outcome only they couldprovide-if at all.
Pilots are constantly drilledon safety of flight, adherence to rules, the unforgiving aspects of physics,crew safety and the necessity to adhere to crew rest. Risking ahelicopter and its crew was usually considered a mortal sin and subject forrelief. The mission was the helicopter and the helicopter was themission. Sometimes. But this was different.
The problem with helicoptersis that they have no soul. They are an inanimate collection of thousandsof moving and non-moving parts usually in conflict with one another and eachwith fragility and sensitivity of its own and each fighting to go its ownway-captured only by circuitry, associations and the symbiosis of thesystem. Together, they form an object with exquisite sensitivity to thelaws of physics compounded by chance. The airframe has a glide ratio of arock. Each of those thousands of parts, components, circuits, valves andmetal is severely affected by the slightest poor judgment or bad luck of apilot. If bullets and shrapnel are added, they become potentially lethalmechanical distractors.
On any given day, the pilotmust perform perfectly for the airframe to properly function at all. Theseobjects do not give a second effort or strive beyond self-imposed limits. No prayer or pilot leadership will make a difference. When a point in thecomplexities of the whole fail, the system fails and the pilot and crew fall.
The pilot knows this andcarefully nurtures the airframe and is extraordinarily sensitive to the systemand its demands. By placing that airframe in an environment where thesafety of documented limits and common sense are ignored is eitherextraordinarily brave or foolhardy and arguably a bit of both.
Ed Freeman and Bruce Crandall,both considerably more aware of the truths of flying than most, chose to ignorewhat they had been taught and to responded to a greater inner personal law-theself-imposed necessity to do what must be done at the recognition for thenecessity of that act. The airframe would function or it would not underthe new pilot- imposed law. But it would have to fail and falter before thepilots would. The needs of the ground rang the shepherd’s bell and theavailable tools would respond-or not.
Listening on the radio andwatching from above, Bruce and Ed transitioned from being pilots to shepherdsof their flock and their flock was calling. Ammo, water, casevac areshort words but they are desperate words. In the direst of moments, theseare more important than life for the unit requiring them, as they mean life forthe many as oxygen for the body or gas for the engine of war. Without theCav transports the airmobile unit was doomed, helpless, and would soon be atthe point of annihilation. Bruce and Ed understood that and cared enoughto act.
The shepherds, with noauthority other than their own sense of service and self, undertook to do whatothers would not, could not do. Overloaded with the necessities ofcombat, these shepherds coursed down through the thickening columns of greentracers, wound across the smoking debris and grassland fires, and landed in thecenter of the inferno, delivering the life-saving material and taking outwounded. The shepherds nursed the flock and allowed it not only to remain alivebut to be held together. The pair did this seemingly endlessly throughout theday and through the descent of darkness.
The airframe was constantlyrent by bullets and shrapnel sometimes from PAVN less than 20 meters from thelanding. The flight crew was engaging the enemy at close infantry rangeas the beleaguered soldiers yanked off the supplies and slung on their woundedbefore the skids had come to rest. The bird would strain and groan,spewing hydraulic fluid and JP4 through newly opened orifices as it struggledfor altitude, pulling great gouts of smoke, cordite, sparks and dirt throughthe cockpit and crew compartment to reach the clear but still bullet torncolumns of air that would deliver them back to base. Bruce and Ed losthorses, traded horses and returned again and again to this maelstrom. The shepherdsviolated all the rules, but safety of the flock, not flight was the foremostthought.
For Ed, this was Pork ChopHill revisited. The smoke, fear, exhaustion, crack of bullets,spluttering lips, deep-pooled eyes and gasping sounds of the wounded were alltoo familiar. Once a part of the flock, he was now the shepherd and heunderstood the terrors, the realities and the requirements. X Ray now hadthe same burned and blackened exposed dirt look of Pork Chop, the same smellsand sights and deep visceral emotions of years ago. At altitude, Ed couldnot enjoy the distance and separation from the obscure smoky spot below--in hismind, he was there on the ground and this would stay there in his heart. He knew intimately what was going on below and what the needs were--needs thatonly he could meet. The earlier broad Pacific and the unforgiving closedirt of Koreahad prepared him for this moment, and he and his partner made a life choicebecause they knew there was no other choice for them. They mustact. Because of that, the shepherds would return the flock.
In the abrupt and unemotionallanguage of the military bureaucracy, Ed was awarded the Medal of Honor becausehe flew 14 sorties into a hot LZ and retrieved 30 wounded. But onconsideration, he did so much more. Where are those 30 men today? What did they do with their lives? What of their families andchildren? What future good did those 30 do for all of us? In truth,many more than 30 benefited from Ed’s actions. Regardless of the materialthings he brought, he brought something equally or more important to the unitat that moment in time--he brought hope. Hope that otherwise would havebecome despair and ultimately death.
To the soldiers at LZ X Raystruggling in mortal combat, bodies jammed as close into the ground asphysically possible, assailed by sweat, smoke, blood, dirt, metal and hotexpended cartridges, shrouded by the incredible cacophony of sound that is somuch a part of close mortal combat, Ed brought the sweet sound of that unforgettableWHOP WHOP WHOP of the life-saving Hueys. Just hearing it over the din ofthe battle produced a rush of adrenalin as welcome as a fresh magazine for anempty rifle. It meant: “We care! We are here! We will help you! You arenot alone! Hang on! More is on the way!” The sound of Ed’s Huey was asreassuring to the troops as the shepherd’s call or his quiet flute across thestill night air. “You will make it. Do your job. Others are doingtheirs.” How many soldiers took heart and drew a breath of fresh optimismbecause of Ed and the sounds he brought? For 1/7 Cav, Ed brought a pearlwithout price.
Witness to this and therecipient of the sounds and succor of hope was a future shepherd--RickRescorla. As a platoon leader that day, he performed exemplary servicewith the resources that Ed and Bruce brought. Trained by the BritishArmy, serving in Rhodesiaand joining the US Army, he brought quality and leadership to a place thatdesperately needed both. Ed kept the engine of war running for a lieutenantthat would have been him on Pork Chop Hill and who would later follow the samesummons of the heart.
Much later, hearing the sametocsin sound to his soul as did Ed and Bruce, Rick would find himself runningup the stairs of the World Trade Center on 9/11when all others were runningdown. The last remembrance people had of him was singing the Cornish battlesong, Men of Harlech, as he vaulted up the stairs-a song sung by his distantancestors at Rourkes Drift. The shepherd brought his own sound to the flock. He was determined to shepherd them as Ed and Bruce had shepherded him. While saving most of his flock, the shepherd died with the remainder.
Ed would probably say that hewas just a nondescript guy who was nothing special and just did what had to bedone on a bad day. It has always been one of the strengths of our Nationthat the ordinary emerge to do the extraordinary, and, in so doing, becomeunique and very special. Ed overcame not only normal instincts but alsohis training learned over years of repetitive emphasis. A BIM light on ahelicopter indicates the blade is compromised. Bullets compromise blades,and the bird must sit down immediately. Had Ed seen it, along with allthe other alarms and signals indicated by a wounded bird, Ed would haveignored it and them because he knew he had people that had to be rescued andboxes of bullets that had to be delivered. Sometimes, chances need to betaken. This was such a time. If the blades can turn, we willreturn. This was Pork Chop with a greener shade, and he knew what wasneeded and knew he was one of the very few that could provide. He sat ina helicopter but his heart was on the ground. He knew what he neededthen, he knew what was needed now and he would provide. He could donothing less. But most of all, Ed provided hope to his flock.
Ed’s anniversarypassed while our Nation was awash with the momentary emotions of demonstrationsand riots and great media concerns of the direction of our Nation. He haddied in a small town in Idahoin the peace of the countryside and the fresh clean air that provides gooddependable lift to a helicopter. He had rejected a funeral at Arlington-that was forheroes. He wanted to rest in the land that he loved. On 14November 1965, Ed “Too Tall” Freeman acted as if the outcome of the wholeconflict was the issue at hand and that it depended on him alone to tip thebalance. And with the exception of one other, it did. The shepherdflew home to where Rick was again marking the LZ. Our thanks as a Nation gowith Ed who stood Too Tall to be forgotten.
To hell with Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda in North Vietnam
Run Time 1:30 m
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnFVFz9d6vU
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The battle of ia drang on November 14 1965 LZ X-Ray
A Tribute toLTG Hal Moore
Run time 10:00m
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w00HolLYnGI
Mrs. Moorerequested on her death bed to be buried with "her boys" Both GeneralMoore and his wife are buried among those killed at LZ-Xray, November of 1965.Indeed, both were re-united with many of the men of 1st/7th CAV. True Americanhero goes home Feb. 10, 2017.
Hal Moore isthe epitome of an American soldier
Run time 5:00 m
Sgt MacKenzie- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB2Ad04mukI
We WereSoldiers Once and Young Tribute #4
Run time 10:00m
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALptRjBTAwU
To hell with Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda in North Vietnam
Run Time 1:30 m
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnFVFz9d6vU
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To tall sir, you call we haul. From the movie I know, thanks so much for posting.
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