He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross,the Mackay Trophy, and was also one of the pioneers of the Army Air Mail Service.

Captain Freeman was killed on 6 February 1941 in the crash of a B-17 Flying Fortress (B-17B 38-216) near Lovelock, Nevada while en route to Wright Field, Ohio.

The aircraft was equipped with the top secret Norden bombsight and sabotage was suspected as the cause of the crash, but was never proven.

[2][3] Initial surveys of the area were made in April 1942 and the present site of Freeman Municipal Airport was selected for construction.

Captain Freeman helped establish Ladd Field which is today's Fort Wainwright just outside Fairbanks, Alaska.

[5] Five training squadrons, the 466th, 467th, 1078th, 1079th 1080th Twin-Engine Pilot were established at Freeman Field, and a total of 250 Beechcraft AT-10 Wichita trainers had arrived by the end of February 1943.

The first flying cadets, who had just graduated from AAFTC advanced single-engine schools arrived on 2 March were formed as class 43-D. Night training commenced on 5 April.

[8] On 1 February 1945 plans were changed by HQ Army Air Forces and Freeman Field was not to be inactivated.

Throughout World War II, continued pressure from African-American civilian leaders led the Army to allow blacks to train as members of bomber crews, a step that opened many more skilled combat roles to them.

In response to this pressure, the mission of the base was changed to training black airmen for B-25 Mitchell medium bomber crews.

On 15 January 1944, the 477th Bombardment (later Composite) Group was activated to train African-American aviators on B-25s at Selfridge Field near Detroit, Michigan.

On 5 May possibly out of fear of a repeat of the summer 1943 race riot in nearby Detroit, the 477th was abruptly relocated to Godman Field at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

As a result of the protest, the 477th was reassigned back to Godman Field by the end of April 1945, and two of its four bomb squadrons (the 616th and 619th) inactivated.

With the 477th moved to Kentucky, on 2 May 1945, Freeman Field was placed on Standby Status, with jurisdiction of the facility being transferred to Air Technical Service Command on 15 May.

In 1945 the enemy aircraft shipped to the United States were divided between the Navy and the Army Air Forces.

Nowhere in the United States would there be such large numbers of foreign aircraft, many of which were rare and incredible advanced for their time, In addition, there were warehouses full of Luftwaffe equipment.

Freeman Field was also charged with the mission to receive and catalogue United States equipment for display at the present and for the future AAF museum.

[3] In addition to the captured aircraft, there was the task of disposing all of the equipment and other surplus material at the field, including the physical buildings.

Sales were held throughout 1946 for scrap lumber of torn down buildings, fence posts, barbed wire and other items which no longer had a useful need.

[5] Freeman Field was closed and declared surplus on 30 December 1946 and was turned over to the War Assets Administration (WAA) for disposal.

The groups are currently in communication with former base personnel, local eyewitnesses, and historians in order to get a comprehensive picture of where the burial pits are located and what items were put in them.