Something just crawled over my foot...

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

Watertender Emil Fredericksen (US Navy) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on July 21, 1905, on board the USS Benington. His citation reads:

Serving on board the U.S.S. Benington, for extraordinary heroism displayed at the time of the explosion of a boiler of that vessel at San Diego, Calif., 21 July 1905.

Private Archibald Freeman (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on May 12, 1864, at Spotsylvania, Virginia. His citation reads:

Capture of flag of 17th Louisiana (C.S.A.).

Captain Ed W. Freeman (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on November 14, 1965, in the Ia Drang Valley, Republic of Vietnam. His citation reads:

Captain Ed W. Freeman, United States Army, distinguished himself by numerous acts of conspicuous gallantry and extraordinary intrepidity on 14 November 1965 while serving with Company A, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). As a flight leader and second in command of a 16-helicopter lift unit, he supported a heavily engaged American infantry battalion at Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley, Republic of Vietnam. The unit was almost out of ammunition after taking some of the heaviest casualties of the war, fighting off a relentless attack from a highly motivated, heavily armed enemy force. When the infantry commander closed the helicopter landing zone due to intense direct enemy fire, Captain Freeman risked his own life by flying his unarmed helicopter through a gauntlet of enemy fire time after time, delivering critically needed ammunition, water and medical supplies to the besieged battalion. His flights had a direct impact on the battle's outcome by providing the engaged units with timely supplies of ammunition critical to their survival, without which they would almost surely have gone down, with much greater loss of life. After medical evacuation helicopters refused to fly into the area due to intense enemy fire, Captain Freeman flew 14 separate rescue missions, providing life-saving evacuation of an estimated 30 seriously wounded soldiers -- some of whom would not have survived had he not acted. All flights were made into a small emergency landing zone within 100 to 200 meters of the defensive perimeter where heavily committed units were perilously holding off the attacking elements. Captain Freeman's selfless acts of great valor, extraordinary perseverance and intrepidity were far above and beyond the call of duty or mission and set a superb example of leadership and courage for all of his peers. Captain Freeman's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.


As I told you last Friday, I was reading this post over at Our Life and it made me think of a story. Today, I will tell you the story:

So one night many years ago (2008, I think it was), I was riding home with Jeremy after a Winthrop basketball game. I don’t remember exactly what game it was, but I know it was dark when we were on our way home and I remember I was wearing shorts and my Irish Setter boat shoes. You might be asking yourself, “Why does he remember that?” Well, keep reading and you’ll find out. It was dark and like normal, we were going between talking and listening to the radio while riding in the dark (I was riding, he was driving). There I was, just sitting… not doing nothing to nobody… when I felt something crawl over the top of my foot (not covered by the shoe… or a sock since I was wearing the shoe I was wearing). I don’t remember my exact reaction to this, but I think I said something like “Whoa! I think something just crawled over my foot”. Jeremy then (much too) calmly replied to me, “Oh yeah, there’s a roach in the car that I haven’t been able to get out”. Now, as you know, I have a hearing problem and the last thing I wanted to do was overreact, so I said, “Haha… It sounded like you said roach”. Jeremy, still way too calm for the situation, then says something like, “Yeah, a roach. I put some stuff under the seat to kill it but I guess it hasn’t worked yet”. I then (still doing my best to remain calm), said something along the lines of “HOWTHEHELLDIDYOUNOTTELLMETHEREWASAMOTHERF---INGROACHINYOURMOTHERF---INGSMALLASSCAR!? I HATE YOU! Ok, I don’t really hate you… but Dude, this is not cool”. Wouldn’t you know it, not long after that the roach took flight. To make things worse, at one point it started to go up my shorts. At this point, I became a two year old little girl stuck in a grown man’s body. I was screaming out of my mind… I may have been screaming curse words in languages I don’t even know… I was out of my mind punching my upper thigh as hard as I could and jumping in the seat like I was pop corn popping. Had I been the driver that night, I’m pretty sure we would have crashed and possibly died. Jeremy turned the inside light on (because roaches tend to hide with the light on… That Jeremy, he’s the brains of our team) and we travelled a good ways like that. To tell you the truth… I’m not sure how the rest of the night went. I think at some point I killed the roach (or got it out of the car)… but for all I know I spent the rest of the trip curled up in the fetal position. Honestly, I was fully prepared to get Jeremy to pull over so we could set the car on fire. We made it home somehow and Jeremy immediately sold the car… and by immediately, I mean sometime between then and now.  For what it's worth, I still don't like riding in a car with a roach.


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