Have a great independence day!!

[latexeses]

Let us all celebrate the sacrifices our founding fathers made to give us this great Republic.

Let's honor their ideals of freedom for the Citizens of this country.

However you choose to celebrate, be safe and enjoy the day!

Rodger & Debbie Allen

[Bigfoot]

Happy Independence Day everyone.

[XJOK2PLAY]

Happy 4th of July to all my family here @ CH. 11. Be safe.

[latexeses]

Isn't this the event that inspired the movie "They Were Soldiers Once - And Young"?

Ed Freeman

You're an 19 year old kid. You're critically wounded, and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley, 11-14-1965, LZ X-ray, Vietnam. Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8-1, and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the Medi-Vac 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 helicopter, and you look up to see an un-armed Huey, but it doesn't seem real, because no Medi-Vac markings are on it.

Ed Freeman is coming for you. He's not Medi-Vac, so it's not his job, but he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire, after the Medi-Vacs 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 2 or 3 of you on board.

Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire, to the doctors and nurses.

And, he kept coming back, 13 more times, and took about 30 of you and your buddies out, who would never have gotten out.

Medal of Honor Recipient, Ed Freeman, died Wednesday, March 25th, 2009 at the age of 80, in Boise, ID.May God rest his soul..


Medal of Honor Winner
Ed Freeman!

THANKS AGAIN ED FOR WHAT YOU DID FOR OUR COUNTRY. RIP

[tw1980]

Hey Rodger, Love the way you decorated your house!!You're a great American.Happy 4th two you and your family Terry

[tw1980]

Isn't this the event that inspired the movie "They Were Soldiers Once - And Young"?

Ed Freeman

You're an 19 year old kid. You're critically wounded, and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley, 11-14-1965, LZ X-ray, Vietnam. Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8-1, and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the Medi-Vac 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 helicopter, and you look up to see an un-armed Huey, but it doesn't seem real, because no Medi-Vac markings are on it.

Ed Freeman is coming for you. He's not Medi-Vac, so it's not his job, but he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire, after the Medi-Vacs 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 2 or 3 of you on board.

Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire, to the doctors and nurses.

And, he kept coming back, 13 more times, and took about 30 of you and your buddies out, who would never have gotten out.

Medal of Honor Recipient, Ed Freeman, died Wednesday, March 25th, 2009 at the age of 80, in Boise, ID.May God rest his soul..


Medal of Honor Winner
Ed Freeman!

THANKS AGAIN ED FOR WHAT YOU DID FOR OUR COUNTRY. RIP

Thank God he is in a better place than he was that day.Thank you for honoring this hero. Terry

[CatatonicBug]

Ever since I was a kid, the 4th has meant going to see the fireworks, and getting a dinner of KFC to take with us. Thankfully, my wife loved the idea when I suggested it to her 4 years ago. This year, Mother Nature decided to throw a monkey wrench into my tradition. It had been sprinkling on and off all day, but seemed to stop as soon as we got to the park where the show was going to be. We laid out a tarp, then a blanket, and set up small beach chairs and set about eating our chicken. The evening was good, with frisbees, footballs, and other outdoor activities. As soon as the fireworks started, it started to sprinkle again. It then got worse... Rain started pouring! We got out the umbrellas, and pulled up the trp to cover ourselves, while the fireworks kept going. When it was over, the rain continued. Needless to say, we got SOAKED! Made me wish I had brought my bike rainsuit... I had never been rained on at the fireworks berfore, even though I have been going for 30 years. I guess it just proves that there's a first time for everything!

[mstic2000]

Great tribute to Ed Freeman! I wonder how many kids are taught his name and taught their Constitutional rights and freedom (that Ed Freeman was fighting for) in school. My kids for one couldn't tell me who Ed Freeman was but they sure do (school) me on 'tolerance'.

[DJinNH]

The above story reminds me of the Big and Rich song, "The 8th of November".

Music video: youtube.com/watch?v=U7EPlqvMAfU

Said goodbye to his mamma
As he left South Dakota
To fight for the Red, White, and Blue.
He was nineteen and green with a new M-16
Just doing what he had to do.

He was dropped in the jungle
Where the choppers would rumble
With the smell of napalm in the air.
And the sergeant said, "Look up ahead"

Like a dark, evil cloud
1,200 came down
on him and 29 more.
They fought for their lives
But most of them died
In the 173rd Airborne.

(Chorus)
On the 8th of November,
The angels were crying
As they carried his brothers away.
With the fire raining down
And the Hell all around
There were few men left standing that day.
Saw the eagle fly,
Through a clear, blue sky
1965, the 8th of November.

Now he's fifty-eight
And his ponytail's grey
But the battle still plays in his head.
He limps when he walks,
But he's strong when he talks
About the shrapnel they left in his leg.

He puts on a grey suit
Over his Airborne tattoo
And He ties it on one time a year
And remembers the fallen,
As he orders a tall one
And swallows it down with his tears.

(Chorus)
On the 8th of November,
The angels were crying
As they carried his brothers away.
With the fire raining down
And the Hell all around
There were few men left standing that day.
Saw the eagle fly,
Through a clear, blue sky
1965, the 8th of November.

Saw the eagle fly,
Through a clear, blue sky
1965.

(Chorus)
On the 8th of November,
The angels were crying
As they carried his brothers away.
With the fire raining down
And the Hell all around
There were few men left standing that day.

(Chorus)
On the 8th of November,
The angels were crying
As they carried his brothers away.
With the fire raining down
And the Hell all around,
There were few men left standing that day.
Saw the eagle fly,
Through a clear, blue sky
1965, the 8th of November.

The 8th of November
The 8th of November

He said goodbye to his mamma
As he left South Dakota
To fight for the Red, White, and Blue.
He was nineteen and green with a new M-16
Just doing what he had to do.


Don
Proud father of a U.S. Marine, Corporal, Amphibious Assault Vehicles

[DJinNH]

This past week, I went on my first mission with the Patriot Guard Riders here in New Hampshire. We worked a funeral for a young Soldier who served in Iraq with the Army National Guard. He died from blood clots.

Our group stood in front of the chapel on the sidewalk, each of us holding U.S. flags.

It poured during my hour ride up there to the Veteran's Cemetary and again during the ride home. But somehow...the rain stopped during the entire service.

Don