02 August, let us pause to remember these young men from our generation who answered the Sunset call.
02 Aug 1965: AVO46841 Assistant Veldkornet Neville Reginald Pullen from the 42 Army Air Reconnaissance Squadron was killed when his Cessna 185A, Serial No. 722 crashed near Derby while on a routine low level reconnaissance training flight. He was 20.
02 Aug 1977: 76927912SP Rifleman Antonio Tchinongo from 32 Battalion was killed in an accidental hand grenade explosion during a training exercise. He was 26.
02 Aug 1982: 76902675SP Lance Corporal Matheus Bambi from 32 Battalion was Killed in Action during a contact with enemy forces in Southern Angola. He was 27.
02 Aug 1983: 78351913BT Rifleman Schaullum Lennox Silverton from Regiment Christiaan Beyers was Killed in Action in a landmine explosion in the Kaokoveld on the road between Etengua (Western-most base in the 102 Battalion area) and the Cunene-river. He was 21.
02 Aug 1984: Warrant Officer Class 1 Cornelius Johannes Koekemoer from 5 Military Works Unit was found dead in Pretoria with an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He was 40.
02 August 1987: Sapper Francois Johannes Perold from 47 Survey Squadron, South African Engineer Corps accidentally drowned in a canoeing accident. He was 20.
02 Aug 1989: 87554507BG Private Jacobus Petrus Du Plessis from Quartermaster General was shot dead while on duty at the Karl Kling Building in Pretoria. He was 18.
02 Aug 1989: 88630553BG Rifleman Rudolph Ernst Thiel from 1 Reconnaissance Regiment was accidentally killed in the Duku-Duku Forest Training area near Mtubatuba when his Unimog overturned on a gravel road during a training exercise. He was flung out of the vehicle during the incident and the vehicle landed on top of him. He was 19.
Their names and sacrifices will not be forgotten