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The Diary of a Naval Aviator
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Author: 1271941

October 1, 1942 (Thursday)

October 1, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Another B-24 this morning. Went swimming at the beach in the afternoon. Incidentally a fair bit of…

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Posted in: October, 1942

September 30, 1942 (Wednesday)

September 30, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Inspected the highly secret air plot at Fort Shafter this morning. Extremely interesting. Track of all the planes…

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Posted in: September, 1942

September 29, 1942 (Tuesday)

September 29, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Our first B-24 or PB4Y-1, arrived this morning. Much jubilation.

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Posted in: September, 1942

September 27, 1942 (Sunday)

September 27, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Got my plane silhouette models and plane photos up in the ready room this morning. The squadron has…

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Posted in: September, 1942

September 26, 1942 (Saturday)

September 26, 2017 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Moved out to Barbers Point today. We are living in some new general quarters as the BOQ is…

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Posted in: September, 1942

September 25, 1942 (Friday)

September 25, 2017 1271941

Ford Island, Pearl Harbor Went down to have my tooth pulled this afternoon and Dr. Schussler (an A-1 dentist) after…

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Posted in: September, 1942

September 24, 1942 (Thursday)

September 24, 2017 1271941

Ford Island, Pearl Harbor The last of the squadron pulled out today for Barbers Point, leaving me here to have…

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Posted in: September, 1942

September 23, 1942 (Wednesday)

September 23, 2017 1271941

Ford Island, Pearl Harbor Took the day off – on the Q.T. Picked up Marion at the bank around noon.…

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Posted in: September, 1942

September 22, 1942 (Tuesday)

September 22, 2017 1271941

Ford Island, Pearl Harbor Was duty officer today. Still moving.

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Posted in: September, 1942

September 21, 1942 (Monday)

September 21, 2017 1271941

Ford Island, Pearl Harbor Started moving squadron to Barbers Point.

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Posted in: September, 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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