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The Diary of a Naval Aviator
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August 21, 1942 (Friday)

August 21, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Worked out new abandon ship bills for planes. Made it out for two separate sets of circumstances —…

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Posted in: August, 1942

August 20, 1942 (Thursday)

August 20, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Worked on details of flight this morning — charts, quinine pills, sheath knives, etc. Shall probably be based…

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Posted in: August, 1942

August 19, 1942 (Wednesday)

August 19, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Returned Marion’s “lost” shorthand book to her sister Jean before returning to the base this morning. Watch the…

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Posted in: August, 1942

August 18, 1942 (Tuesday)

August 18, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Had the day off. Went out to the house for the afternoon. Stayed at Patu’s overnight.

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Posted in: August, 1942

August 17, 1942 (Monday)

August 17, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Called Lewis at Pan Am this morning and he told me that the Navy department had called off…

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Posted in: August, 1942

August 16, 1942 Sunday

August 16, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Back to the squadron this morning. Spent the remainder of the day recuperating from last night’s party.

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Posted in: August, 1942

August 15, 1942 (Saturday)

August 15, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Our one airplane went out of commission yesterday afternoon, so here we sit, some 35 experienced pilots with…

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Posted in: August, 1942

August 14, 1942 (Friday)

August 14, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Called Al Lewis of Pan Am again this morning, but he hasn’t returned yet. Incidentally, Odell took a…

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Posted in: August, 1942

August 13, 1942 (Thursday)

August 13, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Was squadron duty officer today.

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Posted in: August, 1942

August 12, 1942 (Wednesday)

August 12, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Out to the island this morning in the rear end of Gibson’s coupe. Nothing doing around the squadron,…

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Posted in: August, 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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