Private Brad Freeman came home to Caledonia, Miss., from WWII, went to college on the G.I. Bill, married, built a home, raised two daughters and, for 32 years, worked as a rural letter carrier until retiring as the friendly guy who delivered the mail. But fame keeps re-finding Freeman every few years, when his story is rediscovered. On April 7, Freeman, now 96, sat on his front porch, taking in a program in his honor. He accepted a framed autographed photo and note, along with a challenge coin on behalf of U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - the highest ranking officer in the military honoring a serviceman of one of the lowest ranks. Freeman was a private first class “mortar man” in the Army, serving in the European theater in the 1944 with Company E (Easy Company), 2nd Battalion, 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), 101st Airborne Division, one of the most celebrated outfits in American military history. He might have lived out his life in relative obscurity had it not been for the 2001 HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers,” based on the book of the same title by Stephen Ambrose. (Source: Columbus Dispatch 05/08/21) American Hero: Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman honors Caledonia’s ‘Band of Brothers’ veteran - The Dispatch (cdispatch.com)
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