Fallen Crew Members of

USS KIDD (DD-661)

BERNARD VICTOR KOSTELNIK

On May 04, 1926, Bernard Victor Kostelnik was born in Smock, Pennsylvania, to Joseph and Victoria Kostelnik.  He was one of six children—four boys and two girls.  His brothers were Joseph, Eugene, and George.  Joseph and Eugene would both serve in the U.S. Army while George—like Bernard—served in the Navy.  Both of Bernard's sisters, Marian and Rita, died at an early age.  Marian was nine months old when she passed and Rita was one year of age.

Bernard attended Uniontown Senior High School in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, up to the 12^th grade.  Shortly after high school, he joined the Navy in August of 1944.  He was sent to boot camp at Great Lakes, Illinois.  On January 17, 1945, he reported aboard the USS KIDD (DD-661) in San Francisco, California.  The destroyer had just completed a major overhaul and was returning to the western Pacific and the front lines.

At some undetermined point, Bernard married Josephine Trocheck.  Josephine's brother, Joseph Edward Trocheck, was lost while serving aboard the heavy cruiser USS QUINCY (CA-39) during the Battle of Savo Island near Guadalcanal on August 09, 1942.  The QUINCY (CA-39), ASTORIA (CA-34), VINCENNES (CA-44), and the Australian heavy cruiser HMAS CANBERRA (D-33) were all lost in this battle.  Sadly, Josephine was soon destined to lose another loved one to the cruelties of war.

During his three months aboard the KIDD, Kostelnik served at the rate of Seaman 2^nd class.  Shipmate Jim Takitch recalled that his battle station was the forward twin 40mm gun mount on the starboard side.  When the KIDD was struck by a kamikaze aircraft on April 11, 1945, Kostelnik was killed in action.  Many survivors recall that the gun crew on the starboard twin 40mm gun, seeing that the plane was getting through and about to hit, abandoned their gun in the seconds remaining before impact.  They took cover just a few feet away on the port side of the forward deckhouse.  Like the rest of the crew that day, they had no way of knowing that the kamikaze's bomb would catapult through the body of the ship, exit the hull, and detonate off of the port side, showering the vessel with shrapnel.  Because of this, the entire starboard twin 40mm gun crew—including Kostelnik—was lost.  Bernard was buried at sea at 1030 the following day on Thursday, April 12, 1945, along with his shipmates while the KIDD was en route back to Ulithi Atoll from the front lines.

Our thanks to former KIDD crew member Richard E. Ammon, Jr., who gathered this information and located the above photo to insure that this young man's sacrifice, and those of his shipmates, would never be forgotten.

If anyone has additional information on or stories regarding Bernard Victor Kostelnik that they would like to contribute, please contact us at Info@usskidd.com.

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