The United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program is honored to announce that the April 2016 story of the month has been selected to honor the service of Petty Officer Third Class Felix Costa. Petty Officer Third Class Felix Costa served in the United States Navy Seabees during the Vietnam War and was interviewed at the all Seabee Reunion in Hampton Virginia by the United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program.

Petty Officer Costa decided to enlist in the United States Navy after learning about the Seabees while at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Upon completion of boot camp, he would be sent to Heavy Equipment School and then assigned to U.S. Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Five. After serving in Okinawa, he requested to remain with the battalion and volunteered to be a part of an advanced party to be sent to Vietnam. He remarked, "to this day my mother does not know that I volunteered both times to go to Vietnam." Petty Officer Costa would serve in Vietnam for 15 months on his first tour. While sharing memories of his first tour of duty in Vietnam, he recalled, "I believed in the war, the people loved us, we were doing great things." Petty Officer Costa discussed his memories of service while in Vietnam serving in U.S. Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Five.

Petty Officer Costa shared, “we saw a lot of good things, and we saw a lot of bad things.” When remembering the good times, Costa commented, “That first year, the best person I ever saw was Bob Hope...he came to our camp and put on a show... I don’t think there was an entertainer that did what that man did for the American troops.” Within his two part interview, Petty Officer Costa discussed his two tours of service in Vietnam with U.S. Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Five, the horrors of war, the treatment of U.S. Service Personnel upon coming home from the War, and how the Seabees provided aid to the Vietnamese People.

The United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program honors Petty Officer Third Class Felix Costa, featured within this series titled, Stories of Service, Story of the Month. Each month, this series honors a Veteran’s story recorded by the Stories of Service Program at the Navy Memorial. To learn more about this story and to explore the Navy Memorial archive, visit the Navy Memorial Stories of Service site at https://www.navymemorial.org/stories-of-service.