However, when he applied for pilot training he was told that, at six feet four inches, he was 'too tall' for pilot duty. The commission made him eligible to become a pilot, a childhood dream of his. He then assumed command of B Company and led them back up Pork Chop Hill. His second lieutenant bars were pinned on by General James Van Fleet personally. He participated in the Battle of Pork Chop Hill and earned a battlefield commission as one of only 14 survivors out of 257 men who made it through the opening stages of the battle. Although he was in the Corps of Engineers, his company fought as infantry soldiers in Korea. Korean War īy the time of the Korean War, Freeman reached the army rank of first sergeant. Military career World War II ĭuring World War II, Freeman served for two years in the United States Navy on the USS Cacapon (AO-52). They had two sons: Mike, born in 1956, and Doug, born in 1962. He joined the United States Army in September 1948, and married Barbara Morgan on April 30, 1955. After the war, he returned to his hometown and graduated from high school. At age 17, before graduating from high school, Freeman served in the United States Navy for two years. įreeman grew up in nearby McLain, Mississippi, and graduated from Washington High School. He knew then that he would become a soldier. When he was 13 years old, he saw thousands of men on maneuvers pass by his home in Mississippi. Freeman was born in Neely, Greene County, Mississippi, the sixth of nine children.

Idaho medal of honor winners