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This is a real story.


You’re a 19 year old kid.
You are critically wounded and dying in the jungle somewhere in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam .
Its November 14, 1965 . 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 Army, died at the age of 81, in Boise, Idaho.
I bet you didn’t hear about this hero’s passing,Medal of Honor Winner Captain Ed Freeman.

Now that's a true to life hero.

Thank you sir, RIP

Jim
 
Captain Freemans story is a tale of a HERO. That particular battle in the Ia Drang Valley had a bunch of HERO's in it.
That battle was were the book and movie "We were Soliders Once and Young" was based. If you've never read the book, I highly recommend it. The movie was pretty good, but just can't do details of the battle justice.

RIP Capt Freemen and all the other brave souls who fought and the ones who died there. God Bless them all
 
Bacpacker said:
Captain Freemans story is a tale of a HERO. That particular battle in the Ia Drang Valley had a bunch of HERO's in it.
That battle was were the book and movie "We were Soliders Once and Young" was based. If you've never read the book, I highly recommend it. The movie was pretty good, but just can't do details of the battle justice.

RIP Capt Freemen and all the other brave souls who fought and the ones who died there. God Bless them all
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phideaux said:
This is a real story.


You’re a 19 year old kid.
You are critically wounded and dying in the jungle somewhere in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam .
Its November 14, 1965 . 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 Army, died at the age of 81, in Boise, Idaho.
I bet you didn’t hear about this hero’s passing,Medal of Honor Winner Captain Ed Freeman.

Now that's a true to life hero.

Thank you sir, RIP

Jim
Click to expand...

First VA Hospital I visited was with my Aunt visting her W11 husband in Columbus Ga. Fort Benning I think it was. Went back in `1970 I was expecting my second child and rode with her to visit her son my cousin who was in Vietnam.
Next VA was Decatur Ga. I was taking a vet to his doctor. Him and his brother were Nam vets in 1975.He was shot twice in back an lower stomah 1st tour then insisted on going back to be with his buddys. Got shot again in the stomach. He was on VA heavy drugs. He said I want to show you something. He took me to wing that had the worst missing limbs. I saw a young man looked liek a child had all limbs gone,only a head and body straped to that wheel chair. I'll never forget long as I live the look in his eyes. There were lots of badlt wounded i nthat ward. i hate war !!! Next trip was in 76or so visited his brother with bad knee from tower blown our from under him. He was ok just knee kept swelling. Lots of burn victims.
Ron the one that got shot and went back, killed himself in 1986. He never healed from the war.My brother had kids other one too young.But lots of friends went.
I never could pass a beggar without giving him money. Don't care if he is drunk,drug addict if he is military age.
These leaders need to make sure the war is really for us not them! Damn the warmongers whos kid never goes. God Bless The Soldier!
 
I ran across this today... I think they may be off on their numbers but it is still neat to see.

If you think this is simply a picture of the American flag, take a closer look and you’ll see it is composed of approximately 10,000 Navy recruits and covers seven acres. Each star required 65 men to form each one. The photo was taken in 1917 for National Geographic.


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phideaux said:
This is a real story.


You’re a 19 year old kid.
You are critically wounded and dying in the jungle somewhere in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam .
Its November 14, 1965 . 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 Army, died at the age of 81, in Boise, Idaho.
I bet you didn’t hear about this hero’s passing,Medal of Honor Winner Captain Ed Freeman.

Now that's a true to life hero.

Thank you sir, RIP

Jim
Click to expand...
I had the honor of meeting CMOH winner Gary Wetzel a couple of years ago. Quite a man.
http://www.war-veterans.org/Wetzel.htm
 
AIRLINE CAPTAIN - You will not regret reading this one. I promise.


My lead flight attendant came to me and said, "We have an H.R. on this flight." (H.R. stands for Human Remains.)
"Are they military?" I asked.

'Yes', she said.

'Is there an escort?' I asked.

'Yes, I've already assigned him a seat'.

'Would you please tell him to come to the Flight Deck. You can board him early," I said...

A short while later a young army sergeant entered the flight deck. He was the image of the perfectly dressed soldier. He introduced himself and I asked him about his soldier.

The escorts of these fallen soldiers talk about them as if they are still alive and still with us. 'My soldier is on his way back to Virginia,' he said. He proceeded to answer my questions, but offered no words.

I asked him if there was anything I could do for him and he said no. I told him that he had the toughest job in the military, and that I appreciated the work that he does for the families of our fallen soldiers. The first officer and I got up out of our seats
to shake his hand. He left the Flight Deck to find his seat.

We completed our preflight checks, pushed back and performed an uneventful departure.
About 30 minutes into our flight, I received a call from the lead flight attendant in the cabin.

'I just found out the family of the soldier we are carrying, is also on board', she said. She then proceeded to tell me that the father, mother, wife and 2-year old daughter were escorting their son, husband, and father home. The family was upset because
they were unable to see the container that the soldier was in before we left.

We were on our way to a major hub at which the family was going to wait four hours for the connecting flight home to Virginia. The father of the soldier told the flight attendant that knowing his son was below him in the cargo compartment and being unable
to see him was too much for him and the family to bear. He had asked the flight attendant if there was anything that could be done to allow them to see him upon our arrival. The family wanted to be outside by the cargo door to watch the soldier being taken
off the airplane.

I could hear the desperation in the flight attendants voice when she asked me if there was anything I could do. 'I'm on it', I said. I told her that I would get back to her.

Airborne communication with my company normally occurs in the form of e-mail like messages. I decided to bypass this system and contact my flight dispatcher directly on a secondary radio. There is a radio operator in the operations control center who connects
you to the telephone of the dispatcher. I was in direct contact with the dispatcher. I explained the situation I had on board with the family and what it was the family wanted. He said he understood and that he would get back to me.

Two hours went by and I had not heard from the dispatcher. We were going to get busy soon and I needed to know what to tell the family. I sent a text message asking for an update. I saved the return message from the dispatcher and the following is the text:

'Captain, sorry it has taken so long to get back to you. There is policy on this now, and I had to check on a few things. Upon your arrival a dedicated escort team will meet the aircraft. The team will escort the family to the ramp and plane side. A van
will be used to load the remains with a secondary van for the family.

The family will be taken to their departure area and escorted into the terminal, where the remains can be seen on the ramp.. It is a private area for the family only. When the connecting aircraft arrives, the family will be escorted onto the ramp and plane
side to watch the remains being loaded for the final leg home.

Captain, most of us here in flight control are veterans. Please pass our condolences on to the family. Thanks.

I sent a message back, telling flight control thanks for a good job. I printed out the message and gave it to the lead flight attendant to pass on to the father. The lead flight attendant was very thankful and told me, 'You have no idea how much this will
mean to them.'

Things started getting busy for the descent, approach and landing. After landing, we cleared the runway and taxied to the ramp area. The ramp is huge with 15 gates on either side of the alleyway. It is always a busy area with aircraft maneuvering every which
way to enter and exit. When we entered the ramp and checked in with the ramp controller, we were told that all traffic was being held for us

'There is a team in place to meet the aircraft', we were told. It looked like it was all coming together, then I realized that once we turned the seat belt sign off, everyone would stand up at once and delay the family from getting off the airplane. As we
approached our gate, I asked the copilot to tell the ramp controller, we were going to stop short of the gate to make an announcement to the passengers. He did that and the ramp controller said, 'Take your time.'

I stopped the aircraft and set the parking brake. I pushed the public address button and said: 'Ladies and gentleman, this is your Captain speaking: I have stopped short of our gate to make a special announcement. We have a passenger on board who deserves
our honor and respect. His name is Private XXXXXX, a soldier who recently lost his life. Private XXXXXX s under your feet in the cargo hold. Escorting him today is Army Sergeant XXXXXX. Also, on board are his father, mother, wife, and daughter. Your entire
flight crew is asking for all passengers to remain in their seats to allow the family to exit the aircraft first. Thank you.'

We continued the turn to the gate, came to a stop and started our shutdown procedures. A couple of minutes later I opened the cockpit door. I found the two forward flight attendants crying, something you just do not see. I was told that after we came to
a stop, every passenger on the aircraft stayed in their seats, waiting for the family to exit the aircraft.

When the family got up and gathered their things, a passenger slowly started to clap his hands. Moments later, more passengers joined in and soon the entire aircraft was clapping. Words of 'God Bless You', I'm sorry, thank you, be proud, and other kind words
were uttered to the family as they made their way down the aisle and out of the airplane. They were escorted down to the ramp to finally be with their loved one.

Many of the passengers disembarking thanked me for the announcement I had made. They were just words, I told them, I could say them over and over again, but nothing I say will bring back that brave soldier.

I respectfully ask that all of you reflect on this event and the sacrifices that millions of our men and women have made to ensure our freedom and safety in these United States of AMERICA.

Foot note: I know everyone who reads this will have tears in their eyes, including me. Prayer chain for our Military. Don't break it! Please send this on after a short prayer for our service men and women.

Don't break it!

They die for me and mine and you and yours and deserve our honor and respect

Prayer Request: When you receive this, please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our troops around the world. There is nothing attached. Just send this to people in your address book. Do not let it stop with you. Of all the gifts you could give a Marine,
Soldier, Sailor, Airman, and others deployed in harm's way, prayer is the very best one.

GOD BLESS YOU!

Thank you all who have served, or are serving. We will not forget!
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The more I think about the past 160 years of wars the more I think it was in some kind of plans to begin the end of the Europeans. We are really good at killing each other home and abroad.
What I liked the most about Trump was no wars and dying.
 
Don't get too complacent meerkat. We may have to fight one here at home.
 
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