L.Z. Rainelle
West Virginia Veteran's Reunion &
"Miss Freedom Pageant"
Festival History continued:
This small group of riders was to meet up with other motorcyclists in Washington to draw attention to the plight of POW's and MIA's. Indeed, they attracted attention! A local police department radioed to Rainelle's Chief of police, the late Arnold Spitzer, and informed him of the size and purpose of the group of riders who were headed this way. Being the patriot that he was Chief Spitzer called the school to see if the children could be released to wave the riders through. They abliged.
The children were excited and stood outside on the school lawn waving and cheering as the riders came into town! The riders waved and honked their horns. They were concerned that they had interrupted a local parade. As they continued to travel through Rainelle, they realized they were the parade! They turned around and went back to the school and from those humble beginnings, a bond was formed that has grown annually. Each year the students get a hands on Social Studies lesson and the veterans get a real hero's welcome.
Since those early years, those original riders known as Rolling Thunder (some of whom ride all the way across the U.S. from California) have been joined by many individuals as well as other groups to form what is called the Run for the Wall. They arrive at the Rainelle Elementary School where they are still greeted with waves and cheering from the students and local adults alike. The reception at Rainelled School on Thursday is is truly an amazing display of love, loyalty, and patriotism which has been chronicled by various news media across the U.S.
They welcome the individuals from these groups who will be in Rainelle this year to take part in our Memorial Day weekend's events. Over the past 20 years, this dedicated group has found Rainelle to be a haven of good will and friendship that can only be described as an extended family atmosphere. The friendship and concern for he POW/MIA issues in this country has led him to join with Ray Manzo (founder of Rolling Thunder) in 1987 in an effort to educate people in the plight of our POW/MIA's. He felt the rally at the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington had possibley slipped away from its original intent. He recalled taht Manzo had said in the early years that they should probably go to other towns each year to get their message out. After an initial planning meeting in Oct. 2004, plans were formulated for Rainelle to host the Annual West Virginia Veteran's Reunion and "L.Z. Rainelle" was born. This small but dedicated group of individuals have donated their time and abilities to create and coordinate a weekend event dedicated soley to the purpose of honoring our West Virginia veterans.
A Story of Courage.
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 MedEvac 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 anyway.And 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 took 29 of you and your buddies out that day. Some would not have made it without the Captain and his Huey.
Medal of Honor Recipient, Captain Ed Freeman, United States Air Force, died last Wednesday at the age of 70, in Boise, Idaho. May God Bless and Rest His Soul.
I bet you didn't hear about this hero's passing.
This is one of the many men and women that this festival cares so much about. Help us to remember them all; support this great festival any way that you can.
Medal of Honor Winner
Captain Ed Freeman
