Supplies, and to rescue wounded soldiers. Commemorating the anniversary of the battle of ia drang valley. Major freeman, think you for joining us. I want to ask you about those days. Could you tell me about your training for those types of missions . You had to throw some things out the door and improvise. Tell me what you bought into the battle. Major freeman experience. I did not have the privilege of training for the assault. By commander did. My commander did. They trained for two years. This was a brandnew concept of warfare as far as the army was concerned. I was already an experienced power prior to coming to that organization. For a year in tactical mapping. Ford been in south america four years doing the same basic job. Host and you had experience in korea . Yes, and i felt the sting of battle when i was very young. Host did being on the ground in , seeing battle in that sense, help you in those days in november, supporting . Major freeman absolutely. I understood war better than when i first encountered it. Host tell me about bruce crandall. How was he is commander . Was afreeman he tremendous leader, to the point of being a little dangerous. We were coming back in one evening from an operation. We had been inserting troops. We were empty. We renew this one village. We normally receive fire from that village. Sayide in on the radio and pilots, take over the flight, follow me freeman. We peeled out from the organization and flew around a village. We landed. I asked why we did that. He was my friend and also my commander. , atas trying to draw fire which time we couldve called in gunships to take care of the problem. I said we couldve found other ways to draw fire than that. Anway, that is example. Host he was a good leader. How about communication . Youll have to talk to each other when you are flying. Major freeman we Work Together really well. We were in panama together. He was in costa rica, and i was in nicaragua. We went to advanced engineering schools together. I watched his kids grow up. Both of our families grew up together. He is an outstanding individual. Major freeman with a juno than aboutwhat did you know then about colonel marshall . Know freeman i didnt much. Most of the time, we were almost assigned to him as each units, depending on numbers, was assigned to a battalion. I got to know him really well. I am an honorary member of the first in the seventh. Calledhe battle, he bruce and i in and made us honorary members. I have a medal. My number is 11. Bruces was 10. Host what was he like on the field . Major freeman he was firm and believed in training above everything else. When you have that, it makes for a better battle. Your soldiers are very disciplined. I compared it to what iran into to what i ran into in korea. I had some soldiers who were not trained. It was an entirely different with aon, to be trained and skilled organization versus one that wasnt. What were your preparations . What were you all expecting . Major freeman i dont think we expected what we got. Suspected theres enemy activity in the area. That suspected activity turned out to be three regiments. They met us. Was fired for the first five times we went in. On the fifth one, they arrived. They announced their arrival and really worked us over. Host told me about the first time youd got fire. Major freeman you almost get complacency. You are doing this for four like, i guess are they went home. Suddenly, the open up. They open up. You begin to reassess your position. Helicopters could not make it back to the pickup some. It was a fierce battle instantly. It was like turning a switch on. Host what was coming at you . Major freeman ak47s. Some machine gun fire. Ak47s. They travel light. Occasionally, you would enter an area with light machine guns. You would also run into 51 caliber machine guns. , in the ia drang valley. One knocked a hole in the main rotor blade you could put your fist through. I expected the fall any minute. To fall any minute. Let me ask you about operating in that environment. Instantaneously very dangerous. Yourself, howfor do you continue to fly . You are under orders. You want to support people on the ground. What are you feeling when you are coming in to xray and you are really getting into it . Major freeman training. The only difference between a Training Mission and a combat mission is bullets. Always have the mindset that its more honorable to let the enemy kill you than to kill yourself. If you get carried away with fear and anxiety of whats happening, you can hurt somebody, including those around you. You make mistakes. Stick to your lesson plan. Fly the ship at all costs. To the last second. Continue to handle your equipment as it is needed to to make a successful approach. That can be pretty tough. Terrain and tall trees everywhere. Was just a little shorter than a football field. ,ery tight and confining because you have to have some skill, a lot of skill to get in and out of there successfully without damaging the aircraft. Host was fear a part of your day . Major freeman absolutely. Again, youled fear, go back to i cannot change things. I did not expect to survive. And had been in tremendous battles before. Who am i to say on the chosen one and will be spared . I am the chosen one and will be spared . You need skill and need luck. , andlike Texas Hold Em both of those are involved. They play an equal part, possibly. Skill is a must if you will successfully perform the duties assigned to you and do it safely. To splattera shame a load of troops all over the hill if the mission was to get them into battle. At least let them get in there and let the enemy take care of the problem. Host when did you realize you would probably not survive this . When did you have this realization that i am not going to survive this . I am not the chosen one. Did you have that thought . Major freeman i walked down the peer in mobile, alabama. Id been to war before. I explained to my wife, there is a good chance i wont return. Take care of the kids. Dont expect any miracles. My oldest brother was with me. He said it must be exciting knowing youre going off to war. I said yes, i am about to be in in my pants. E meant well ive never smoked marijuana. Get inwant ta high, a 100ship formation of helicopters. Host tell me about what bruce did. Major freeman it was a normal, supposedly, operation. We prepped the area with artillery. We arrived 30 seconds after the lasthit the host more you down to the earth at that point . Major freeman yes. This was the first landing in that area. We did this and came charging and. Charging in. We were surprised no one was firing back at us. So moore and dyland were in the first chopper . Major freeman yes. And a not sure if the names of a lot of them, but there were a number of them, all uniformed. Before that, it was guys in pajamas. Pc. Called them o they were rice farmers during the day and pc at night. They would go harass americans. Host it gets hot. You all were beginning to you stillr were landing . Major freeman after the fifth landing, we all left backed the pickup point. Morgan andolonel said no more helicopters need to come to the landing zone. Im a little smarter. I know he had to have ammunition. Basic load was 100 rounds per person. It doesnt take long to unload with m16s. So i knew it wasnt going to work. Somebody has to go get people that will survive. Without ammunition, the enemy would have killed every member of the organization once they ran out of ammunition. So we looked our wounds and decided which helicopters could fly and which couldnt. We rearranged the assignment. This will work, this wont. Be assigned to the helicopters. We assigned the helicopters. After 45 minutes, and the time is kind of blurry, we got a call. Need one volunteer to come into landing zone next ray and haul out and bring water andbring ammunition. We were talking young, 20yearold officers. Of thed just come out fierce fight. Not a soul moved a muscle. I dont blame any of them. I said, ive got it. I started walking toward my helicopter. It was already loaded. As i crawled in and hit the starter, frank marino, angel kuba, they all started crawling into my helicopter. Copilot, who shared my cockpit with me. I said to get out of the helicopter. He said, no, we are crew, we are going with you. I said frank, this will be the longest day of your life. I said it may be the last day of your life. He said i know that. I asked if he was still going. He said yes sir. 14. 5 hours after that, i set it down. Camedid this, bruce running out and said im going too. I asked what happens to the company when you get zapped . So we joined up in formation, and my last flight was at 10 30 at night. Me tell you about the flashlight. His instructor for two years. Tests my jobs, one of my was to bury a six cell the ground and turn it on and put it near the side of the runway on a training and turn the light on and take the helicopter to 1000 feet above terrain and give it to the student and shut the engine down. His job was to do a 360 degree turn. When he stopped, i wanted to see the light shining between his feet. If you didnt do it, you got a pink slip. Prepared. Ou are were prepared. Major freeman i was prepared. I wanted to be in total charge of that equipment. Talkike it almost could make it almost talk. I told bruce i was the greatest helicopter pilot. And he was second. [laughter] major freeman it was insurance. If you know your machine and had operated and anything that and anythinge it that comes between, you can identify how to prevent catastrophic failure. Off, when you took back how many guys did you have to support . Major freeman it was a 13 minute flight, each direction. Hours. 14. 5 they put a number of about 30 of actuated. Evacuated. I was in that hospitality room. 20 guys walked up and said without you, i would have died in xray. Host so you wait for them to do their work in the back, unloading, and you go. You are holding in the cockpit. Major freeman never got out. I stood on the skid and took a leak. You never know. Come loose a to little later. Sometimes, they should the tail rotoroff shoot the tail off. Lines, a fuel system that would only go down to a third of a tank that would seal itself. If youre in a helicopter, nothing but fumes of jet fuel hit you in the face. Until a matter of seconds we hit the big ball of fire and it was over with. Why it doesnt blowup, i dont know. Its spewing fuel. We are running the engine at 900 centigrade. Out, canyou are going you describe the evolution of that day after you and bruce decided to continue to go back . What happened . Major freeman give me that again. Host as you go through the bruce make thend decision to go back flying, what happened on the ground . What happened is that day went on and into the night . Major freeman at night was the biggest fireworks youve ever laid eyes on. We would ask to lay down protective fire when we come in on the shore. Would start shooting at the enemy to keep their heads down. We would be offloading injured soldiers. Basically. Ur, i cant even recall 15 hours, other than the fact that a couple of times, the c rations, and taking a leak from the skid, because we could not waste any time. They needed every round of ammunition and every bandaid and first aid kit we could muster and all the water we can haul. Those troops needed it bad. We wasted no time shoveling in and out. Host what do you remember about moore . Lonel major freeman i monitored all communications. We may not tell other pilots that. It gets cluttered if you have too many people chatting. Dontk fuel and said talk. We dont describe everything, because it is better. Colonel moore would tell us if the lz was hot or warm and advise us. He would tell us to move to the west side a little bit, because we have a push to the easter whatever. East or he was air traffic control, so to speak. He says, i can survive until daylight. I wanted to get out and go kiss him. I didnt. Landed. Back in and at daylight, crack of day, we started all over again. We flew all day that day and the following day. 3 days. Host the movie portrays bruce vomiting. He is accosted by another gentleman. Did that happen . Major freeman yes. That was the medevac who refused to go in. In defense of those pilots, i know some good ones. It was not their policy, but headquarters policy. Outfit. To be in that i thought why are you here if you cannot land . That doesnt make any sense. I cant blame the individual. Bruce was going to go over shooting, and i took the gun away from bruce. I explained that we dont shoot our own. I was passed, too. It blew over, and nothing came of it. Hot. Was and i can understand. Sometimes, you cannot change things. You change things if you can. Host november 15. This is onee said of the worst days he had ever expressed in combat. Tremendousck was dawb attacj wa major freeman everywhere you looked, people were killing each other. Tracers, you could walk on them. It was a strange, here he eerie feeling. They did not keep their heads up too long. They knew that helicopters were lifelines. We always took some rounds. An eerie feeling. Host tell me about sleep deprivation and how you work through the stress . Major freeman i was not exhausted. My mind wasnt working well. I couldnt remember what i finished. I laid down in and immediately, drifting. A la land, i was there 10 minutes or less. Than it was daylight, got to go. I felt a little better, but not a lot. Combat is a strange animal. It is a strange thing that does Different Things to different people. It treats people different. Not all are the same. Again, i called on my experience from korea. I accepted that this was probably the end. I got through to a little better beeni would have if id out there the first time. Like . So what did it look can you describe it . Major freeman airplanes came from all sides. A jet would come by, and the areawould scoot across the into someplace else. The jet is not a Close Air Support machine. Agrees. It is too fast to support ground troops. Screamed through their. There. The bongo skipping, you can see it, skip down the bushes see goes skipping, you can bushes. Ping down the there were formations of aircraft circling, waiting their turn. I dont know who put the napalm out, but i know who all the kids were. I knew jimmy. He was of japanese descent. He died the next morning. ,he called me just a while ago his mother. Scene almost like a movie , with the amount of aviation that was trying to get in there were a lot of dead, and a lot of damage to the enemy. A rd what about drupal joe galloway . Major freeman i didnt have much until it was over with. We used to drink beer together. I have known him many years. I got to know him really well. Hes a Straight Arrow and a very bright man, very clever and very intelligent. Good person. Good human being. After the battle, you tent. Ou were in the what do you remember about the troopers and him on the 16th when they came out . You listed them out . Major freeman absolutely. And extracted them, which we did a lot of times. There was a different look about the young gis in their eyes. Jordan, the big square jaws. I think hes a good actor. He doesnt show very much emotion. Certainly not among his troops. Eyes ande is steely squared away when it comes to that, because he doesnt want to lead any of this in motion shed into his troops. I believe i may be right on that. But joe was a happygolucky guy, as a general rule, and still is. The night at the phoenix when we had our medal of Honor Society meeting, enemy seven of us showed up 77 of us show up. A metalnted joe with and he got up and made his speech. He said, by the way the army gave him a bronze star. He says by the way, should have gone another metal for writing around with freeman oliver vietnam. All over vietnam. Richard tell me about the movie. How has that changed things for you . You are a prominent part of it. Bruce is really the focus. Major freeman bruce was more of an aviation advisor. They wind him to come down to, anythingent lost georgia except for blood, sweat, and tears. I decided bruce could handle it and i did not need to go. I thought it was very well done. I enjoyed it. It is about 85 accurate in my book. I think most people that i talked to would give it at least 80 or 85 accuracy. They sent me a copy of the script, and ask for comments. The big comment i had was, get rid of some of the profanity. In my case, i had two young granddaughters and they probably heard it before, but i did not want them to come out of the movie like that. I dont think they paid any attention to me, because you probably saw the movie and noticed. It was a waste of effort when i made my comments. I thought that they did pick pretty good job of making it. I did not approve of some of the things, but most of it was accurate. Richard what about the ending when bruce kamen, the greg kinnear character, on the third morning of the 16th . Major freeman he and i am the gunships. Not true. First place, you cannot use a gunship when you have your own troops on the ground. The only time we could fire our machine guns, is on the side of the helicopters. With the initial trip in, for the first trip, we could hose everything down, hoping we would get in a straggler. Other than that, you cant come in there. You have to have open area to hose them down with, otherwise your own troops would get it. It looked good in the movie, but it didnt happen. And we did not stack bodies up, we did not touch them. You could walk on them, because they were stiff. With bodies but we did not stack on them. We did not urinate on murdered troops either. They did not come in with all the women reporters. Just joe. Richard its the 40th anniversary reunion. What has it been like for you . Major freeman i have raised it through my mind a few times and replayed it. Reruns. Movie, ient seen the dont think since the premier. The caught a little bit on tv. Think it was excellent that they did that, and i think it showed that we had a good side. I think it at least helped the troops because the troops took it insurance. Our tube did not smoke marijuana. We were in a barbed wire men,glement with 23,000 and you did not get out of there except for the helicopters. We could not go to town, there was no village, the village was 10 miles away but there was nothing there. Im not saying people didnt do this inside on where whatever, wein saigon or wherever, but had good troops and they were Good American soldiers, and they were vicious fighting men, and i had met her than very much. But i think they took a bum rap. I hope this helped show the public a little bit that we has some tremendous young men on our side. 100 years from now, someone is going to be wise in this and listening. What do you want to tell them about the men, and by yourself . About yourself . Major freeman i would hope that somebody finds a solution, other than war. But i dont believe they will. I want to tell you a quick story about my grandson, hes my fishing buddy. Hes now a schoolteacher. He went to college on a scholarship and played baseball and all that, but he teaches. When he was about nine years old, we were going up the river fishing. Out of the blue sky he said, grandpa, do they fight wars on weekends . I said yes. We drove on around some more curves. He said grandpa, do they fight on holidays . I said yes. Minutes he says