DEATHS ; Notable Passings; The Thread to Pay Last Respects

[docneg]

Usually when one decides to go they don't have rope around the privates plus they usually leave a note to explain what their reasoning was.

Personally I think it's murder with the subterfuge of supposed sex games as a red herring.

Actually, there have been a number of "auroerotic asphyxiation" deaths among the show business community over the years. Many a slip has been made intensifying orgasm by tightening a band around the throat (Albert Dekker in the early '60s is an example). In fact, an absorbing Japanese movie centering on this practice is the famous (or infamous) In The Realm of the Senses. Without reading any of the particulars in the Carradine case, my first thoughts are that this would be one of those cases. When you get older, you'll try anything...(did I say that?)

 

[Story]

Lieutenant-Colonel Bill Becke

It's one thing to be known for playing lethal hide-n-seek with Nazis, but this part takes the cake.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obi...es/5498037/Lieutenant-Colonel-Bill-Becke.html


On September 16 1963 Becke demonstrated archetypal British pluck when, monocled and with moustache bristling, he defied a mob trying to sack the British embassy in Jakarta while his deputy as military attaché, Major "Rory" Walker, marched up and down playing the bagpipes. :eusa_clap

Exasperated by the British decision to bring Sarawak and North Borneo into the new Malaysian federation, the rioters, with banners declaring "Smash Malaysia" and "Smite the British imperialists", hurled stones at the two attachés in front of the building. The mob could not force their way inside, but did tear down the Union flag (which Becke restored to the flagpole) and burn the ambassador's car.

The unflinching conduct of the two soldiers was complemented by the calmness of the ambassador, Andrew Gilchrist. After meeting representatives of the mob, he airily remarked that it was a pity the Indonesians did not play cricket as some had demonstrated "their ability to handle stones with great credit".

 

[Sefton]

And of course, one so seldom sees protest signs that use the word "smite" nowadays...

 

[Story]

And of course, one so seldom sees protest signs that use the word "smite" nowadays...

Too true, none of these modern protesters want to get truly Old Testament-y. [huh]

 

[jamespowers]

Ed Freeman---Medal of Honor Winner

I got this via email:

Ed Freeman


You're an 19 year old kid. You're critically wounded, and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley, 11-14-1965, LZ X-ray, Vietnam. Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8–1, and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the Medi-Vac 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 helicopter, and you look up to see an unarmed Huey, but it doesn't seem real, because no Medi-Vac markings are on it.

Ed Freeman is coming for you. He's not Medi-Vac, so its not his job, but he’s flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire, after the Medi-Vacs were ordered not to come.

He's coming anyway.

And he drops it in, and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 2 or 3 of you on board.

Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire, to the doctors and nurses.

And, he kept coming back…13 more times…and took about 30 of you and your buddies out, who would never have gotten out.

Medal of Honor Recipient, Ed Freeman, died on Wednesday, March 25th, 2009 at the age of 80, in Boise, ID…May God rest his soul.

Medal of Honor Winner

Ed Freeman!

Since the Media didn't give him the coverage he deserves.

THANKS AGAIN ED FOR WHAT YOU DID FOR OUR COUNTRY.

RIP

 

[jamespowers]

A bit more on Ed Freeman:

By the time the Korean War broke out, Ed Freeman was a master sergeant in the Army Engineers, but he fought in Korea as an infantryman.
He took part in the bloody battle of Pork Chop Hill and was given a battlefield commission, which had the added advantage of making him eligible to fly, a dream of his since childhood. But flight school turned him down because of his height: At six foot four, he was “too tall” (a nickname that followed him throughout his military career). In 1955, however, the height limit was raised, and Freeman was able to enroll.
He began flying fixed-wing aircraft, then switched to helicopters. By 1965, when he was sent to Vietnam, he had thousands of hours’ flying time in choppers. He was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), second in command of a sixteen-helicopter unit responsible for carrying infantrymen into battle. On November 14, 1965, Freeman’s helicopters carried a battalion into the Ia Drang Valley for what became the first major confrontation between large forces of the American and North Vietnamese armies.
Back at base, Freeman and the other pilots received word that the GIs they had dropped off were taking heavy casualties and running low on supplies. In fact, the fighting was so fierce that medevac helicopters refused to pick up the wounded. When the commander of the helicopter unit asked for volunteers to fly into the battle zone, Freeman alone stepped forward. He was joined by his commander, and the two of them began several hours of flights into the contested area. Because their small emergency-landing zone was just one hundred yards away from the heaviest fighting, their unarmed and lightly armored helicopters took several hits. In all, Freeman carried out fourteen separate rescue missions, bringing in water and ammunition to the besieged soldiers and taking back dozens of wounded, some of whom wouldn’t have survived if they hadn’t been evacuated.
Freeman left Vietnam in 1966 and retired from the Army the following year. He flew helicopters another twenty years for the Department of the Interior, herding wild horses, fighting fires, and performing animal censuses. Then he retired altogether.
In the aftermath of the Ia Drang battle, his commanding officer, wanting to recognize Freeman’s valor, proposed him for the Medal of Honor. But the two-year statute of limitations on these kinds of recommendations had passed, and no action was taken. Congress did away with that statute in 1995, and Freeman was finally awarded the medal by President George W. Bush on July 16, 2001.
Freeman was back at the White House a few months later for the premiere of We Were Soldiers, a 2002 feature film that depicted his role in the Ia Drang battle. As he was filing out of the small White House theater, the president approached him, saluted, and shook his hand. “Good job, Too Tall,” he said.

Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Army, Company A, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion,
First Cavalry Division (Airmobile)
Place and date: Ia Drang Valley, Republic of Vietnam, 14 November 1965
Born: 1928
Citation:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. 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, First 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 infantry 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 underseige 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 experienced a 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 estimates 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.

 

[flat-top]

Sam Butera
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/music/la-me-sam-butera5-2009jun05,0,1746673.story

 

[Lily Powers]

Sam Butera
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/music/la-me-sam-butera5-2009jun05,0,1746673.story

I'm sorry to hear that. Dig That Crazy Chick is my favorite Sam Butera tune.

 

[John in Covina]

Sam Butera
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/music/la-me-sam-butera5-2009jun05,0,1746673.story

***********
Sam Butera and the Witnesses were one of the things that made Louis Prima just cook!

Hope he's playing in that great band in Heaven!

 

[skyvue]

Former Ink Spot guitarist Huey Long dies at 105
By Monica Rhor, Associated Press Writer

HOUSTON -- Huey Long, a jazz guitarist whose sprawling career included stints with musical giants Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker and as part of the famed Ink Spots vocal group, has died. He was 105.

Long died Wednesday in a nursing home in Houston, surrounded by his daughter, Anita Long, and the female caregivers who often called him "Poppa," his daughter said Friday.

In his final moments, Long listened as his daughter sang melodies they once harmonized on, including the Ink Spot classics "If I Didn't Care" and "I'll Get By." During her rendition of "Amazing Grace," Long shed a single tear, his daughter said.

"Music was always a mainstay for him," said Long, who opened a museum in Houston dedicated to preserving her father's musical legacy. "The music, that was his life. If it didn't have to do with music, he wasn't interested...."

Full story here:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6475667.html

 

[Lady Day]

I'm sorry to hear that. Dig That Crazy Chick is my favorite Sam Butera tune.

French Poodle is mine
That man was too cool for school.

LD

 

[jamespowers]

Former Ink Spot guitarist Huey Long dies at 105
By Monica Rhor, Associated Press Writer

HOUSTON -- Huey Long, a jazz guitarist whose sprawling career included stints with musical giants Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker and as part of the famed Ink Spots vocal group, has died. He was 105.

Long died Wednesday in a nursing home in Houston, surrounded by his daughter, Anita Long, and the female caregivers who often called him "Poppa," his daughter said Friday.

In his final moments, Long listened as his daughter sang melodies they once harmonized on, including the Ink Spot classics "If I Didn't Care" and "I'll Get By." During her rendition of "Amazing Grace," Long shed a single tear, his daughter said.

"Music was always a mainstay for him," said Long, who opened a museum in Houston dedicated to preserving her father's musical legacy. "The music, that was his life. If it didn't have to do with music, he wasn't interested...."

Full story here:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6475667.html

Oh NO! Huey was a great entertainer. That voice will be missed.

 

[duggap]

I just read the post on Ed Freeman. Kind of touches your heart when you were in the military during that time. I met more than one medal of honor winner. By the way, the salute from the President was required. As commander in chief, it makes him military. All military personnel, regardless of rank, must salute a medal of honor winner. Generally, all personnel stand in a mess hall until the medal winner is seated. Thanks for the post on this.

 

[airforceindy]

As a current military member, I can only imagine the feeling so many soldiers, Marines, and Airmen got when they arrived back home only to be spat upon, while we enjoy accolades and thanks from random persons on the street. Heroes aren't always those who bleed for the Flag; those who have served honorably without serving a day in a combat zone deserve to be commended just for stepping up and saying "I'm willing, send me" for their 4, 10, or 20 years in the service. Freeman exemplifies heroic sacrifice, and provides a face for the entire military, a brotherhood of heroes. May he rest in peace and with honor.

-AFI

I just read the post on Ed Freeman. Kind of touches your heart when you were in the military during that time. I met more than one medal of honor winner. By the way, the salute from the President was required. As commander in chief, it makes him military. All military personnel, regardless of rank, must salute a medal of honor winner. Generally, all personnel stand in a mess hall until the medal winner is seated. Thanks for the post on this.

 

[jamespowers]

I say "amen' to both your posts.
I am glad a Medal od Honor winner gets that kind of respect. However, many who have won that award do not live to get the respect they deserve. They die on the battlefield saving their fellow soldiers.

 

[Foofoogal]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090623/ap_on_en_tv/us_obit_mcmahon

Ed McMahon. RIP

I wonder if he got to keep his home towards the end?

 

[Fletch]

Col. Edward Peter Leo McMahon, USMCR, Ret.

HIYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

You are correct Sir!

 

[carouselvic]

Farrah Fawcett

6-25-2009

 

[Marc Chevalier]

.

Farrah? My first object of desire (well, two of them)? NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! http://www.theonion.com/content/files/images/Farrah-Fawcett-article1.article.jpg

(Not me, but an accurate depiction.)





And yes, Farrah was capable of being 'Golden Era'-esque:

.

 

[Sefton]

Yes, you and I and millions of other teenage boys had the famous bathing suit poster. She was gorgeous. May she rest in peace.