Comments on: My Reflection of Exercise Purple Star | 10 May 1996

By: Sabrina Olivos

Sabrina Olivos — Fri, 08 May 2026 08:53:03 +0000

My uncle was Lance Cpl. Jose L. Elizarraras. My mother was pregnant with me when everything happened. Thank you for sharing this and for honoring my uncle, along with the other lives that were lost. Although they’re no longer with us, they’ll always be remembered as a true hero.

By: Anthony Mathias King

Anthony Mathias King — Tue, 10 Jun 2025 17:26:37 +0000

I was on the 3rd 46, we banked hard to avoid the fireball, landed an a couple of us were first on scene and began the recovery. I still remember my last words to Lcpl Chitester as we went up the ramp to the flight deck.

By: Skidkid269

Skidkid269 — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 00:49:21 +0000

In reply to Rich Parks. We were probably in your ready room together the morning of this mishap. I was the C&C UH-1N. Shit sucked. Sorry for your guys loss. We were a replacement aircraft because the skid guys you had from 167 could not get a Huey to fly that night and we caught the frag.

By: Skidkid269

Skidkid269 — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 00:38:00 +0000

In reply to Skidkid269. Correction Sandpiper was the intended zone, Plover is where they wound up.

By: Skidkid269

Skidkid269 — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 00:33:57 +0000

In reply to Scott Witner. I was the UH-1N CC aboard the C&C aircraft (UH-1N). Admin note we (you and us) were heading into Plover (rather than Bluebird, Bluebird is right on the coast just inside the Inland waterway) with the BLT CO and a few other strap hangers (SOC evaluators). The BLT CO wanted to go meet his men in LZ plover so we knew that this was the last go of the night. We descended and were just in trail of the flight of Phrogs and watched what was supposed to be a 45 degree attack left pull off wind up with one snake going right and one going left. The one that went right realized his error and tried to correct. He got lost in the lights on courthouse bay and did not see the phrogs (NVGs washout in bright lights). I wasn’t able to even recognize or get a word out of my mouth when the snake hit the phrog and the fireball fell to the ground. The radios screamed a loud high pitched scream which made any immediate communication impossible. Until they hit the deck and exploded. The screaming stopped and we made a 180 degree turn and wound up on the other side of the New River over LZ Owl. That was a bad night for the HMM and the BLT. It’s a small Marine Corps when we were all in the same place at the same time.

By: Brian Lohman

Brian Lohman — Sat, 13 May 2023 02:53:18 +0000

In reply to David Peterson. Doc was such an awesome person! He stood right behind me in the dinner chow line the evening before all this happened. He asked me “Lohman, what are you going to do on leave after we get back?” I told him just go back home and spend time with friends and family. I feel so terrible that I was able to go home on leave and he didn’t have the chance. He would always call me Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins. I will never forget him!

By: John Mallino. John’O

John Mallino. John’O — Sun, 29 Jan 2023 14:41:53 +0000

You were on my Bird. I was the crew chief who gave you that signal. Living with guilt for 25 years. We were supposed to be Dash 2. You were supposed to be in dash 2. A mixup and serendipity brought us into position as Dash 6. Crow was pissed we were out of position. The pilots kept trying to bounce us back up to dash 2. But settled back into -6. With both of them knowing they were going to get chewed out at the debriefing.

By: Rich Parks

Rich Parks — Sun, 29 Jan 2023 03:38:01 +0000

I was the crew chief on dash 3 of the mishap flight. The dash 2 CH46 was the one that the cobra collided with. I saw the cobra at the last second and as I was calling the aircraft the only words I could say at that point was power climb right. The cobra passed under us in front of our nose and I saw them impact and watched the Ch46 go into the trees and come to rest. My aircraft and dash 4 dropped our troops off on the LHA pad along the river and gave them a heading to try to get to the crash site. I made a trip to MCAS New River to get medical and fire personnel at brought them to the LZ and waited for any news. We medevaced the pilots to Lejeune hospital and were ordered to stand down at MCAS New River. There is not a day or night that I don’t think of and remember that night where we lost 14 OUTSTANDING US service members.

By: Tom wimer

Tom wimer — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 17:27:55 +0000

I was on combat cargo for 1/8 on the Nassau. My platoon just left and I was ship bound due to a jacked up ankle. When we heard the birds went down I thought I lost everyone of my friends. Horrible night.

By: Barry Raw

Barry Raw — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 18:51:16 +0000

Hi Scott,
I was a weapons specialist on an equivalent British unit (845 Naval Air Commando Squadron), our mission would have been similar. I remember that night. The exercise had just begun and we were operating our Sea King Mk4 helos from the deck of RFA St George that night. I was to be in the last wave ashore as part of our Brigade Echelon. We had loaded up and waved off the first assault and were awaiting their return when we heard there had been a mid-air. Unfortunately and coincidentally at the same time one of our own Sea Kings suffered comms failure and couldn’t be accounted for. Sickening feeling I remember my sweat running cold out on the deck in the darkness as we all thought it was one of our own that was lost. Sorry for your loss, brother.