Today is Memorial Day in the States. Memorial Day is the
annual day for remembrance of the men and women who died while serving in the United States
Armed Forces. Now that I am a mother this day weighs very heavily on
my heart. Today I am for the first time not thinking of the men and women who
gave their lives for my beautiful country, I am thinking the sons and daughters
and praying for their mother's to find peace.
I look down at my beautiful son with tears in my eyes and
think, “will you too be one of the heroes this day is celebrated for?” The idea
absolutely tears me apart. I’ll be
honest I don’t particularly want to be the mother of a fallen hero. I’d be just peachy being the mother of
a banker, teacher, scientist, writer, anything but a profession where he puts
his life on the line every day.
At just shy of four months old, my son has already made me
proud on numerous occasions. Every time he meets a milestone, or just does
something great like reaching out and grabbing something and then shoving it in his mouth my heart just fills full of pride! I’m happy with that kind of pride. However, nothing makes me happier than seeing my son happy
and full of smiles, so if being a hero is what he wants to be, then so be it.
Now I will leave you with an email that was sent to me
telling the story on one amazing hero…. A hero that I would be very proud to
call my son…
“You're a 19 year old kid.
You're critically wounded and dying in the jungle somewhere in the Central
Highlands of Viet Nam.
It's November 11, 1967.
LZ (landing
zone) X-ray.
Your unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense from
100 yards away, that your CO (commanding officer) has ordered the 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 a helicopter.
You look up to see a
Huey coming in, but it doesn't seem real because no MedEvac markings are on it.
Captain Ed Freeman is coming in
for you.
He's not MedEvac so it's not his job, but he heard the radio call
and decided he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire anyway.
Even
after the MedEvacs were ordered not to come. He's coming any way.
He drops it
in and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 3 of you at a time on
board.
Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire to the doctors and
nurses and safety.
And, he kept coming back!! 13 more times!! Until all the wounded were out. No
one knew until the mission was over that the Captain had been hit 4 times in
the legs and left arm.
He saved 29 lives that day.
This is the true story of Medal
of Honor Recipient and Hero Captain Ed Freeman, United
States Air Force.”
Sources http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day
