The United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program is honored to announce that the May 2016 story of the month has been selected to honor the service of Lieutenant Commander Donovan C. Currant. Lieutenant Commander Donovan C. Currant’s service in the United States Navy spanned twenty years and his ships and stations included the, USS Higbee DD 806, Coastal Division 13, Officer in Charge while serving on PCF 28, 40, 137, 96, and 98. Service at the United States Naval Academy and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

Donovan Current joined the Navy at the age of 19 and went to Great Lakes for Basic Training and then to Electronics School. He was quickly recognized based on his merit and was assigned to unique duty in New Mexico repairing nuclear bomber radars. He then went to ROTC at the University of Colorado and attended OCS and was commissioned as an officer. His first ship was the USS Higbee DD 806 which was in the Philippines. His service on the Higbee spanned the Pacific going from the Gulf of Tonkin back to the West Coast. His service on the Higbee would change forever while docked in Subic Bay in the Philippines. He shared, "while I was on the Higbee in Subic Bay...a Swift Boat came along side and a Lieutenant JG was in charge and I was now a Lieutenant JG, I went to my skipper and said I want one of those. My Skipper said you don’t want one of those they are dangerous and I said, where else can I be a skipper as a JG, he finally gave in and I was allowed to go to Swift school.” Current would then be sent to San Diego for training on Swift Boats where he would be given command of  a PCF. Upon being sent to Vietnam, he would be assigned to Coastal Division 13. His time in Vietnam would be spent on PCF 28, 40, 137, 96, and 98. He would have extensive service in Vietnam and upon completion of his tour, he would spend 20 years of service in the United States Navy. The Stories of Stories of Service archive department produced the three part interview series of  Donovan Current which includes, part one Memories and Service on the USS Higbee DD 806, part two Vietnam Service in Cos Div 13 and Swift Boat Operations, and part three Memories of Annapolis, Portsmouth, and USS John Adams.

The United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program honors, Lieutenant Commander Donovan C. Currant, 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.