Vietnam Chopper Pilot Honored
More than 35 years after his acts of heroism in the Vietnam War, Captain Ed Freeman received the nation's highest military award Monday, reports CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller.
Freeman flew his unarmed chopper into the Ia Drang valley some 21 times on November 14, 1965, braving intense enemy fire.
"That single helicopter brought the water, ammunition and supplies that saved many lives on the ground, and the same pilot flew more than 70 wounded soldiers to safety." President Bush said in bestowing the Medal of Honor at a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. It was his first Medal of Honor ceremony as president.
Freeman, from Boise, Idaho, already had won the Distinguished Flying Cross, but survivors of the battle campaigned long and hard for the top honor.
Mr. Bush also credited the "persuasive weight" of another Vietnam war hero, Arizona Senator John McCain, in winning Pentagon approval.
"Army Captain Ed Freeman did something that the men of the 7th Calvary have never forgotten," the president said. "Years pass, even decades, but the memory of what happened on November 14, 1965 has always stayed with them."
After placing the medal around the 73-year-old Freeman's neck, President Bush gave the captain a salute before an audience that included 50 other Medal recipients.
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