15 August, let us pause for a minute to remember these young men from our Generation who answered the Sunset call.
15 Aug 1973: 68091503N Leading Seaman Ivan William Kearns from SAS Protea was critically injured near Bredasdorp on 10 August 1973 when a Land Rover, driven by 65942179E Leading Seaman Hendrik van der Merwe, also from SAS Protea, overturned after the driver lost control of the vehicle while driving on a section of road that was under construction. He succumbed to his injuries on 15 August 1973. He was 26. Leading Seaman van der Merwe was killed instantly in the accident.
15 Aug 1973: 71314264N Rifleman Mark Cornelius van Heerden from 1 SAI died at Potchefstroom after contracting meningitis while on his way to participate in a military exercise in Gazankulu. He was 18.
15 Aug 1979: 69216158BT Sergeant Barend Cornelius Roux from the Regiment De Wet, attached to 53 Battalion was Killed in Action in Southern Angola when his patrol was ambushed by a numerically superior force of SWAPO/PLAN insurgents just North of Oshigambo. He was 26.
15 Aug 1981: Rifleman Melato Chamba from 201 Battalion SWATF was Killed in Action when his patrol was ambushed by a numerically superior enemy force in Southern Angola. He was 24.
15 Aug 1988: 83383128BT Rifleman Brink Stander from 1 SAI was killed in a private motor vehicle accident on the Brandfort to Bloemfontein Road while he was on a weekend pass. He was 31.
15 Aug 2002: Corporal B. Mathebula from 5 Reconnaissance Regiment died in hospital from smoke inhalation and burns sustained on 13 August 2002 during a veld fire at the Police Special Task Force’s Verdrag anti-terrorist training area. Operators from 5 Special Forces Regiment and members from the Special Task Force were conducting a joint final training exercise to deploy operationally for the World Summit on Sustainable Development. He was 24.
15 Aug 2003: 71228472PW Major André Anton Hattingh HC; AAD (P); CA; SM from 22 Squadron suffered severe injuries when his motorcycle accidentally collided with the tail plane of C-47 TP Dakota 6840 that was being towed onto the flight line while he was riding to work at Air Force Base Ysterplaat in the early hours of the morning. In the darkness, he apparently mistook the two approaching lights for a motor vehicle when it was in fact the lights of the tractor towing the aircraft from the hangar to the flight line. He was airlifted to 2 Military Hospital in Wynberg in a critical condition where he underwent emergency surgery. He sadly succumbed to his injuries later in day as a result of internal bleeding. He was 48.
Their names and sacrifice have not been forgotten.