24. “Too Tall” Freeman Finally Got His Just Recognition
Ed Freeman’s officer commission made him eligible to become a pilot. However, when he applied, he was told that at 6 feet 4 inches, he was “too tall” – hence his nickname – for flight training. The height limit for pilots was raised in 1955, and Freeman finally qualified to fly helicopters. Ten years later, during the Battle of Ia Drang, enemy fire was so intense that the landing zones were closed for evacuating wounded troops. Freeman volunteered to fly his Huey anyhow, and made fourteen trips through heavy fire, during which he brought in water and supplies, and flew out dozens of wounded.
Freeman was nominated for a Medal of Honor, but a missed deadline in filing the paperwork kept him from getting one. He ended up with a Distinguished Service Cross, instead. Decades later, the deadline rules were changed, and Freeman became eligible once again for the country’s highest award. It took 42 years, but Ed Freeman’s heroic conduct in 1965 finally received its just recognition in 2007, when he was awarded the Medal of Honor. He passed away a year later, and was buried in the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery, in Boise.