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Heroes
Are you aware of a person who has performed exemplary or heroic service for our country who recently passed away without the public awareness they deserve. We want to tell the world about them. Email us with a picture and story (250 words or less please). Include their age and the date they passed away and don’t forget to include a picture.
World War II
Irena Sendler
Died May 12, 2008, age 98
In November, 1942, Irena obtained special permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto as a plumber and sewer expert to check for signs of typhus. She KNEW what the Nazi's plans were for the Jews, (being German.) Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried and she carried in the back of her truck a burlap sack, (for larger kids..) She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids/infants noises.. During her time of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants. She was caught, and the Nazi's broke both her legs, arms and beat her severely. Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard. After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it and reunited the family. Most had been gassed. Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes or adopted.
Last year Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize ... She was not selected. The award went to Al Gore for a slide show on Global Warming.
Vietnam
Ed Freeman
Medal of Honor Recipient
Died Aug. 20, 2008, age 80
La Drang Valley, November 14, 1965, Landing Zone (LZ) X Ray
With 450 U.S. soldiers surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese soldiers, and enemy fire so intense that Medi-Vac helicopters were ordered not to go in to evacuate the wounded, Ed Freemen flew his un-armed Huey helicopter (with no Medi-Vac markings) into heavy machine gun fire without orders or assignment, 13 times and rescued approximately 30 wounded US soldiers.
With 450 U.S. soldiers surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese soldiers, and enemy fire so intense that Medi-Vac helicopters were ordered not to go in to evacuate the wounded, Ed Freemen flew his un-armed Huey helicopter (with no Medi-Vac markings) into heavy machine gun fire without orders or assignment, 13 times and rescued approximately 30 wounded US soldiers.