<P> He retired from the military in 1967 . Freeman and his family settled in the Treasure Valley area of Idaho, his wife Barbara's home state . He continued to work as a pilot . He flew helicopters for another 20 years, fighting wildfires, conducting animal censuses, and herding wild horses for the Department of the Interior until his second retirement in 1991 . By then, he had 17,000 flight hours in helicopters, 22,000 overall . </P> <P> Freeman died on August 20, 2008 due to complications from Parkinson's disease . He was buried with full military honors at the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery in Boise . </P> <P> In the 2002 film We Were Soldiers, which depicted the Battle of Ia Drang, Freeman was portrayed by Mark McCracken . </P> <P> The post office in Freeman's hometown of McLain, Mississippi, was renamed the "Major Ed W. Freeman Post Office" in March 2009 . </P>

Who played too tall in we were soldiers