On October 22, 1968, a U.S. Marine Corps OV-10A Bronco (#155422) light attack and observation aircraft, call sign Hostage X-Ray, from Marine Observation Squadron 2 (VMO-2), Marine Aircraft Group 16 (MAG 16), was conducting marking runs near the village of Giang Hoa (12 miles SW of Danang) in Quang Nam Province, RVN. While flying below low cloud cover it was hit by ground fire, causing the aircraft to crash. Its two-man crew were killed in the incident. The lost crewmen were pilot CPT Eugene W. Kimmel and aerial observer CPT Rodney R. Chastant( Tulane NROTC 1965). A UH-1E helicopter gunship (VS-10) observed the crash, landed at the crash site, and recovered the body of the pilot CPT Kimmel. The helicopter received fire and returned fire from a ground hover. CPT Chastant’s body was subsequently recovered.
USMC Class of 1965: 2nd LT’s Carlos Indest, Thomas Carter, Vic Barrios, Rod Chastant, Bill Andrews, Ross Bailey, Major Dean, Major General J M Masters, and Col Robert Bross.