KIA INCIDENT: 19680407 HMM-265 Vietnam

Brothers (& Sisters) Killed in Action in USMC Helicopters or while assigned to USMC Helicopter or Tiltrotor Squadrons

19680407HMM-265 Vietnam

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Incident Date 19680407 HMM-265 Ground N/A - Drowning

[GROUND]
Bernal, Jose Rolando Sgt Grnd Casualty HMM-265 MAG-16 1968-04-07 (vvm 48E:038)

BERNAL JOSE ROLANDO : 1958129 : USMC : SGT : E5 : 6242 : 24 : CHICAGO : IL : 19680407 : non-hostile : drowned : body recovered : Quang Nam (Da Nang) :06 : 19440302 : Cauc : Roman Catholic/married : 48E : 038

From Command Chronology - April 1968 - HMM-265

"Sergeant Jose R. Bernal died at MMAF, Danang on 7 April 1968."

Submitted by: Alan H Barbour, Historian, Historian, USMC Combat Helicopter Association, 20081118

I served with Sgt. Bernal for 10 months in the electrical shop. We called him Berny on a friendly scale. He made tough duty seem lite because of his sense of humor and
knowledge of our aircraft. He was a good sergeant, leader and friend and missed by all who knew him. He and gunnery sgt. kalikini would often team up to provide us with
comedy hijinks. One I can remember in particular was when we had two new enlisted men report in for duty. They were standing at attention in front of the shops NCOICs desk when the gunny came up behind them and pretended a loud sneeze. Berny standing a few steps further back had a hyperdermic syringe filled with water and sprayed the backs of their necks at the same time, really soaking them. They angrily turned saw the gunny and turned quickly back. Every one in the shop was cracking up and he soon let them in on the joke. I think they felt like part of the squadron after that initiation.

Submitted by: john martin, 20190506