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The Diary of a Naval Aviator
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Author: 1271941

October 11, 1942 (Sunday) 

October 11, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Forgot to mention that Joe Hall as PPC let Goodrich smash the tail end of my plane…

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Posted in: October, 1942

October 10, 1942 (Saturday)

October 10, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Did carpenter and paint work most of the day getting my “office” (the identification box) into shape…

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Posted in: October, 1942

October 9, 1942 (Friday)

October 9, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Took the day off. Rode to Pearl Harbor on a supply truck, then caught a cab into…

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Posted in: October, 1942

October 8, 1942 (Thursday)

October 8, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Out for another ride in the B-24 today. Too many of us went along for me to…

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Posted in: October, 1942

October 7, 1942 (Wednesday)

October 7, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Out in a B-24 again today. The new flight set-up gives me Plane #13, with Savio and…

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Posted in: October, 1942

October 6, 1942 (Tuesday)

October 6, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Spent the afternoon at the Halekulani with Nancy Worrell and Phil Dostal (of San Francisco). Swam and…

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Posted in: October, 1942

October 5, 1942 (Monday)

October 5, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Patrolled south today. Nothing.

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Posted in: October, 1942

October 4, 1942 (Sunday)

October 4, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS First hop in one of her new B-24s this afternoon with Stack Glanz and Oliver.

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Posted in: October, 1942

October 3, 1942 (Saturday)

October 3, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Took a flight physical this morning and am now back on the flight list. Moved into the…

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Posted in: October, 1942

October 2, 1942 (Friday)

October 2, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Another B-24 this morning — the “third.” Made full lieutenant today – about seven months behind the…

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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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