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Mississippi post office may be re-named for late Idaho veteran

By Katy Moeller - kmoeller@idahostatesman.com

Published: 03/18/09


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Darin Oswald/Idaho Statesman

A Mississippi post office may soon be renamed for Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Maj. Ed W. Freeman, who spent nearly four decades of his life in Idaho.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 384-0 in favor of a bill that would re-name the post office on Main Street in McLain, Miss, which is Freeman's hometown. The bill was introduced by Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., at the request of the Board of Aldermen of the Town of McLain, according to Mississippi's Sun Herald newspaper.

Ed "Too Tall" Freeman, who died in Boise in August of 2008 at age 80, is one the Army's most heralded helicopter pilots.

The heroics of Freeman and the others involved in the Ia Drang campaign in Vietnam are immortalized in the Mel Gibson movie "We Were Soldiers," which is based on the book "We Were Soldiers Once ... And Young." A sequel, "We Are Soldiers Still," was released in 2008.

Freeman, who was also a veteran of World War II and Korea, received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions on November 14, 1965, at Landing Zone X-Ray, in the Ia Drang Valley. His citation credits him with helping save 30 seriously wounded soldiers in 14 separate rescue missions in an unarmed helicopter.

"It is extremely fitting that we should name a federal building after Major Ed Freeman," U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson said in a press release Wednesday. "It is an honor to have known him and all Americans should be honored that he served our country and defend her in the manner in which he did."

Freeman was a Mississippian with strong ties to Idaho; his wife, Barbara, was an Idaho native.

The bill to re-name the McLain post office after Freeman will next go to the Senate, then to the president for his signature.

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