July 26, 1942 (Sunday)

Pearl Harbor

Worked around squadron. Forgot to mention that the squadron got word a few days ago of the loss of one of our crews operating in the Aleutians. They simply disappeared on patrol — Ensigns Coker, Mullersman, and Ludlow.

The war seems to be going from bad to worse for the United Nations. The Russians and the Chinese are doing all the fighting, with a minimum of help from the U.S. and Britain, who, however, make up for the lack of actual aid by issuing charters and statements, and holding multitudes of ineffectual conferences.

God damnit, this sitting around is getting some of this down. Why doesn’t this fat-headed Navy ask for a few volunteers and allows all of us to get into this mess with some borrowed Army ships. Or even let us fly with the Army. Think I’ll try applying for duty with the Army, it certainly won’t hurt to try. VF-72 has an army captain flying with it — even off the carrier (Hornet).