21 February, let us pause to remember these young men and women from our Generation who answered the Sunset call.
21 Feb 1964: Pioneer Jacobus Adriaan Vorster from Army Auxiliary Services died of emphysema and bronchitis in the Pretoria Hospital. He was 60.
21 Feb 1978: 70371711BT Lieutenant Phillip Joseph Castle from Regiment Windhoek, was Killed in Action in Northern Owamboland during a close-quarter fire-fight with SWAPO/PLAN insurgents at Olusjandja Dam after his Patrol was ambushed just before sunrise. He was 20.
21 Feb 1979: 75332973BG Rifleman Francis William John Snyman from 7 SAI was Killed in Action when the Bedford he was driving, detonated a land mine outside Oshakati. He was 19.
21 Feb 1981: Commandant Pieter Gouws from 1 SWA Squadron SWATF was Reported Missing when his private Civilian aircraft, a Cherokee 6 PA32-300, Registration ZS-EXG, disappeared without trace while conducting an officially tasked aerial reconnaissance sortie up the South West African Coastline. He has no known grave and remains unaccounted for. He was 49.
21 Feb 1981: 90633225CK Private Nathan Dawid Petersen from the Orange Free State Command Maintenance Unit while Absent Without Leave AWOL from his Unit died near Stellenbosch when he was assaulted and stabbed during a knife fight. He was 20.
21 Feb 1983: Corporal Kallie Vermeulen from Northern Logistics Command was killed in a private motor vehicle accident. He was 21.
21 Feb 1984: 76913979SP Rifleman Rinho Jepau from 201 Battalion SWATF was Killed in Action during a contact with SWAPO/PLAN insurgents South of Cuvelai. The troops opened fire on the group of insurgents from inside their Buffel Troop Carriers and a bullet ricochet inside the vehicle killed him instantly. His body together with a captured SWAPO/PLAN insurgent were both evacuated from the Battlefield by a Puma Casevac Helicopter. He was 27.
21 Feb 1985: Special Constable Johannes Tobias from the South West Africa Police Counter-Insurgency Wing: Ops-K Division (Koevoet) was Killed in Action during a contact with SWAPO/PLAN insurgents in Northern Owamboland. He was 25.
21 Feb 1987: Gunner Daniel Botha from 4 Field Regiment died as a result of accidental self-inflicted injury when he put a fire extinguisher hose in his mouth believing that if he inhaled some of the contents, it would give him a “High”. When he activated the extinguisher, his internal organs froze almost immediately and he died instantly. He was 18.
21 Feb 1988: Two members from 5 Signals Regiment and one member from Infantry School were Killed in Action in Southern Angola during Operation Hooper when their position was attacked by Angolan Air Force MiG-21 and MiG 23 Fighter Bombers firing rockets and dropping 460kg (1000 lb) aircraft bombs. The trench in which they were sheltering was first hit by rockets and then a 460 kg bomb that landed and exploded right next to their trench. The casualties were:
79553640PE Sergeant Gerrit Marthinus Maritz from 5 Signals Regiment. He was 25.
83320341BG Corporal Van Zyl Venter from Infantry School. He was 20.
85241289BG Signaler Jacques de Lange from 5 Signals Regiment. He was 19.
21 Feb 1993: 89736540HG Rifleman Mudson Joseph Nhlapo from 5 SAI attached to Natal Command Headquarters shot and killed a civilian person at a shebeen during an argument and was later found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He was 25.
21 Feb 1993: Lieutenant (Miss) Charlotte Pienaar, was a serving member of West Front, Military Intelligence (detached from the South African Medical Corps) when she was killed in a private motor vehicle accident in Southern Namibia. She was 24.
21 Feb 2011: Gunner Jabulani David Masango from the Air Defence Artillery Unit was killed when his parachute failed to open during a practice jump at De Brug Training Ground near Bloemfontein while taking part in Exercise Young Eagle. He was 25.
Their names and sacrifices will not be forgotten.