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The Diary of a Naval Aviator
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Category: November, 1941

Nov. 30, 1941 (Sunday)

November 30, 2016 1271941

New York Went to a beautiful mass as St. Patricks and afterwards went down to the Commodore Hotel and thanked…

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Posted in: November, 1941

Nov. 29, 1941 (Saturday)

November 29, 2016 1271941

New York Got passport straightened out at State Dept. Called Mary Gedney and said good bye — promised to write…

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Nov. 28, 1941 (Friday) 

November 28, 2016 1271941

Norfolk, VA and Washington DC Waited around most of the morning first on one foot, then the other, for the…

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Nov. 27, 1941 (Thursday)

November 27, 2016 1271941

Norfolk, VA Life begins tomorrow! Had my orders written up. Still waiting for the captain to sign them — and…

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Nov. 26, 1941 (Wednesday)

November 26, 2016 1271941 1 Comment

Norfolk, VA Started the day off at 0640 with Dean White crashing around drunk as a lord —just coming in…

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Nov. 25, 1941 (Tuesday)

November 25, 2016 1271941

Norfolk, VA Nothing today. Ate three meals, sat around the squadron and came back to my room and slept. Went…

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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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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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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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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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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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