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The Diary of a Naval Aviator
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Author: 1271941

October 31, 1942 (Saturday)

October 31, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Afternoon hop. Instruments. Buzzed outgoing convoy and the beach in front of the Halekulani. Turned down chance…

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Posted in: October, 1942

October 30, 1942 (Friday)

October 30, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Afternoon hop canceled. Two friends of mine from the Pearl Harbor Air Intelligence Center, Lts. Shackleford and…

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Posted in: October, 1942

October 29, 1942 (Thursday)

October 29, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Out on an instrument hop this morning. Wore a mask of my own invention to take the…

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Posted in: October, 1942

October 28, 1942 (Wednesday)

October 28, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Hitchhiked the 30 miles out to the field this morning. Everybody on the damned island has official…

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Posted in: October, 1942

October 27, 1942 (Tuesday)

October 27, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Navy announced the damaging of another one of our carriers in the Solomons! Plus a Jap push…

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Posted in: October, 1942

October 26, 1942 (Monday)

October 26, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Back into town on regular liberty — what a way to fight a war! But, I might…

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Posted in: October, 1942

October 25, 1942 (Sunday)

October 25, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Back to the squadron around noon. These trips back-and-forth are certainly a pain in the ass.

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Posted in: October, 1942

October 24, 1942 (Saturday)

October 24, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS No hop. Went into town late in the afternoon with Wally Jones on special liberty — the…

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Posted in: October, 1942

October 23, 1942 (Friday)

October 23, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Sinuses acting up pretty badly from the dust out here, plus too much swimming.

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Posted in: October, 1942

October 22, 1942 (Thursday)

October 22, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Hop this afternoon. Slowed up my landings to a fairly short run. Made a few beauties. Went…

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Posted in: October, 1942

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A secret for 75 years

Kailua resident James Claire Nolan kept a secret most of his life. A Navy pilot during World War II, he kept a detailed diary and drew pictures throughout the conflict, a practice frowned upon by security-minded authorities. When he died in the early 1990s, he entrusted the pages to his friend and military historian Burl Burlingame of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Burlingame is now Historian at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum.

Trained as a navy bomber pilot, Nolan was rushed to the Dutch East Indies as war broke out and returned to Pearl Harbor, where he was pressed into service flying PBY “Catalina” flying boats on patrol.

Later, Nolan served with distinction at the battle of Midway, on Guadalcanal and became the personal pilot for Vice Adm. Aubrey Fitch. Nolan said his proudest moment came when in the summer of ’43 he discovered the slowly sinking bow of USS Helena, sheared off by a Japanese torpedo several days before and covered with desperate survivors. He stuck with the ship until help arrived.

After the war, Nolan joined the US Air Force and continued to fly. In civilian life, he was a historian at Hickam Air Force Base.

We are publishing these diary entries exactly 75 years to the day after these pages were written. Except for very minor spelling and grammatical updates, they are as written — including observations that may seem not “politically correct” these days. It is a look into the mindset of a young man fighting a war across a vast ocean.

This site will remain active for five years. It is sponsored by historical-interpretation company Pacific Monograph.

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