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The Diary of a Naval Aviator
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Author: 1271941

Nov. 24, 1941 (Monday)

November 24, 2016 1271941

Norfolk, VA They screwed Bright on that ground loop — said it was 60% inexperience and 40% pilot trouble in…

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Posted in: November, 1941

Nov. 23, 1941 (Sunday)

November 23, 2016 1271941

Norfolk, VA Went to Communion with Krill. Slept most of the day — what a stinking existence.

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Posted in: November, 1941

Nov. 22, 1941 (Saturday)

November 22, 2016 1271941

Norfolk, VA Worked all day. Andy Bright (Hollister as co-pilot and Irish as passenger) ground looped a PBO at Elizabeth…

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Posted in: November, 1941

Nov. 21, 1941 (Friday)

November 21, 2016 1271941

Norfolk, VA Life drags on. My whole outlook on life is becoming warped by this Navy — or was it…

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Posted in: November, 1941

Nov. 20, 1941 (Thursday)

November 20, 2016 1271941

Norfolk, VA Thanksgiving Day. After a big meal at noon, a bunch of us went out to the Great Dismal…

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Posted in: November, 1941

Nov. 19, 1941 (Wednesday)

November 19, 2016 1271941

Norfolk, VA Am preparing lecture on air fighting and types of German planes. Purloined another box. My fifth. Poor old…

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Posted in: November, 1941

Nov. 18, 1941 (Tuesday)

November 18, 2016 1271941

Norfolk, VA Change in orders today. Dispatch from the Bureau informed me that my ship is not sailing until the…

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Posted in: November, 1941

Nov. 17, 1941 (Monday)

November 17, 2016 1271941

Norfolk, VA Orders came through today and I was the envy of the squadron. The Captain contained himself, and told…

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Posted in: November, 1941

Nov. 16, 1941 (Sunday)

November 16, 2016 1271941

Norfolk, VA Went to communion with Krill in the morning and spent the rest of the day dozing — the…

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Posted in: November, 1941

Nov. 15, 1941 (Saturday)

November 15, 2016 1271941

Norfolk, VA Great news! Shefy Hodges called me this morning to tell me that he had just seen my orders…

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Posted in: November, 1941

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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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