[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 142 (Tuesday, September 9, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S8177]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   A TRIBUTE TO CAPTAIN ED W. FREEMAN

 Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, on August 20, America lost one of 
her bravest heroes, and I am honored to say he was an Idahoan. Ed ``Too 
Tall'' W. Freeman, U.S. Army, retired, was awarded the Congressional 
Medal of Honor for actions undertaken during the battle of Ia Drang in 
Vietnam in November, 1965. Recounted in the book by Joseph Galloway, 
``We Were Soldiers Once . . . And Young,'' Ed's bravery became legend. 
American forces were heavily engaged with North Vietnamese soldiers and 
the medical evacuation helicopters refused to fly into the battle zone 
to retrieve soldiers--it was deemed too dangerous. The infantry 
commander asked for volunteers, and young Captain Freeman, followed by 
LTC Bruce Crandall, stepped forward and offered to fly, unarmed, to the 
battlefield to bring supplies and carry out the wounded. Ed flew 14 
separate missions and his actions, literally under fire, saved life and 
limb of 30 soldiers--all in a landing zone that was within 100 to 200 
meters of the defense perimeter set up to engage the North Vietnamese 
Army at close range. Many of us have been to the Vietnam Wall--that 
tragic list is dozens of names shorter for Ed's extraordinary valor. 
Imagine the children and grandchildren that are here today because he 
saved the life of their father or grandfather. Incidentally, Ed himself 
had two young boys--preschool and elementary school-aged at the time.
  When he retired from the Army in 1966, Ed continued flying 
helicopters, this time for the U.S. Department of the Interior, 
conducting animal censes, herding horses and fighting fires. In 2001, 
Ed was presented the Congressional Medal of Honor by President George 
W. Bush for his actions during the Battle of Ia Drang.
  Ed was laid to rest in the Idaho State Veteran's Cemetery, a 
beautiful place that overlooks a vista bounded to the south by the 
Snake River Valley and distant mountains, to the east and west by a 
vast expanse of open sky, and behind to the north, by foothills rising 
to meet their less-weathered relatives. The wind blows with reassuring 
regularity, and it seems that in this western meeting place of land and 
sky, at once comfortingly familiar and awe-inspiring, it is indeed an 
appropriate place for Ed.
  In a tribute written upon Ed's death, author, former war 
correspondent and friend Joseph Galloway said:

       Too Tall Ed was 80 years old when he died in a hospital in 
     Boise, Idaho, after long being ill with Parkinson's disease. 
     He turned down a full dress hero's funeral in Arlington 
     National Cemetery in favor of a hometown service and burial . 
     . . close to the rivers he loved to fish and the mountains he 
     flew through in his second career flying for the U.S. Forest 
     Service . . . Now Too Tall Ed Freeman, a much larger than 
     life-size hero . . . and a much better friend than we 
     deserved, is gone, and we are left with too large a hole in 
     our hearts and in our dwindling ranks.

  When Ed spoke to a reporter in Idaho back in 2000, he recounted those 
14 harrowing hours. He said, ``That Huey helicopter was my tool, and I 
was trained to use it. It was capable of flying into that hell hole, 
and I was capable of making it do that.'' When asked if he was afraid 
he said he ate ``franks and beans'' and chain-smoked. ``God knows how 
many I smoked. Till I had a blister on my tongue.'' When asked about 
why he volunteered for this dangerous duty, he said: ``You don't think, 
`I'm going to go out and win the Medal of Honor.' You're going to win a 
body bag if you're not real lucky.''
  And, in a testament to Ed's humble nature, his comment on his heroism 
was simply: ``I did think I possibly did a little more than was 
required of me. But again, I had a job to do.''
  It is a tremendous honor for me to pay tribute to Ed W. Freeman, and 
my condolences go to his wife Barbara, his sons, and their families at 
this difficult time.

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