D Company Losses — Operation Sheridan Sabre, February 5, 1969
February 5, 1969 — D Company loses two men
Research page — updated 2026-07-22. CPT Henry Colavita's memoir has upgraded this page from a casualty-record-only research stub to a firsthand narrated account. Confirmed: a single creek-crossing engagement, later nicknamed "Colavita Creek" by the company, killed both men on February 5, 1969. The exact grid and enemy unit are still not confirmed against a unit-level record.
On February 5, 1969, D Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry lost two men at a creek crossing in its area of operations near FSB/LZ Saint Barbara:
- SP4 Chester Jon Kmit, 23, of Williamsburg, Massachusetts — Wall Panel 33W, Line 65
- CPL James Thomas Edmonds, 20, of Burlington, North Carolina — Wall Panel 33W, Line 62
Both names sit on Panel 33W — the same panel that carries Pipher and Eskridge from one week earlier. Chester Kmit had arrived in May 1968 and was nearing the end of his tour. James Edmonds had been in country since October 1968.
Operation Sheridan Sabre and FSB Saint Barbara
By early February 1969, D Company appears to have shifted from the 2nd Brigade's Fishhook AO (FSB Rita, through late January) to the 1st Brigade's Tay Ninh Province / War Zone C AO, operating off FSB Saint Barbara — a former French fort the 25th Infantry Division had used earlier in the war, part of a string of firebases along the Cambodian border kept within mutual 105mm howitzer range of each other to counter NVA supply caching. Colavita's memoir places the company at Saint Barbara through February and most of March 1969, and the base's own grid (XT275684) is now confirmed via the firebase gazetteer. Operation Sheridan Sabre (7 November 1968 – 4 April 1969) remains the operational frame for this window; see "An unresolved brigade question, now resolved" below for why this page now treats Tay Ninh Province as correct rather than disputed.
The commander's account
CPT Colavita's memoir describes a smaller contact the night before — a single NVA encountered on February 4 — followed the next day by a downhill approach to a creek crossing below that position. As the company crossed, it took intense fire from a broad front on the far bank. Kmit, walking point, was killed instantly. Several others were wounded. Colavita called battalion ("Stone Mountain 6" — LTC Richard Wood, who had just taken command from LTC Frank Henry) for gunship support, and the company pulled back to higher ground under covering fire while the two most seriously wounded were staged for urgent medevac.
Edmonds's evacuation
The landing zone remained too hot for a helicopter to land, so a jungle- penetrator lift was arranged to pull Edmonds out by cable. During the lift, continued enemy fire led the medevac crew to cut the cable, and Edmonds fell. A Medical Service Corps colonel formally investigated the incident afterward; Colavita testified that the cut had not been necessary and has said he believes Edmonds may already have died of his wounds before the fall. A second medevac later lifted out the other wounded once the situation allowed.
Kmit's recovery
Kmit's body could not be recovered immediately — first because of the ongoing situation, then because of a stay-in-place order tied to the cable-cutting investigation. He was recovered two nights later, once a secure landing zone could be established.
An unresolved brigade question, now resolved
This page previously flagged an unresolved tension: a single Wall of Faces remembrance for Edmonds (posted by Dennis Wriston) states he served under the "2nd Brigade," while Tay Ninh Province — the province of record for both men — was documented as the 1st Brigade's AO during Sheridan Sabre. Colavita's account of D Company operating off Saint Barbara, combined with the existing Operation Montana Scout page (which places Saint Barbara among the 1st Brigade's firebases in the months immediately following), makes it very likely that 2/8 Cav had already shifted to the 1st Brigade's Tay Ninh AO by this date. On that reading, "Tay Ninh Province" is simply correct here — the opposite pattern from the Dec 4, Jan 21, and Jan 28 clusters, where Tay Ninh was very likely a casualty-record error for the 2nd Brigade's actual Binh Long AO. The Wriston remembrance is most likely an outdated holdover from 2/8 Cav's earlier Rita-era assignment. This is an inference from strong circumstantial fit, not a confirmation from a task-organization table or unit journal — neither has been located for this specific date.
Help us complete the record
If you served with D Company, 2/8 Cavalry in early February 1969, knew James Edmonds or Chester Kmit, or can help fill in the grid or the enemy unit involved, we want to hear from you. Please reach us through the contribute form.
If you served with D Company, 2/8 Cav in early February 1969, or knew CPL James Edmonds or SP4 Chester Kmit, we'd like to hear from you. We're trying to fill in the details of the action that took both men on February 5, 1969 — a nickname, a face, or a fragment of that day all help us complete the record.
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