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The Diary of a Naval Aviator
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Category: April, 1942

April 20, 1942 (Monday)

April 20, 2017 1271941

San Francisco, California Am leaving my first diary (kept from November 11, 1941 to April 19, 1942 — the beginning…

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Posted in: April, 1942

April 19, 1942 (Sunday)

April 19, 2017 1271941

Santa Clara Communion at early mass – my first in five months. Big turkey dinner was thoroughly demolished by all…

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April 18, 1942 (Saturday)

April 18, 2017 1271941

Santa Clara Played records and got squared away. Ed, Gretchen and Caesar showed up in the afternoon. Took Caesar down…

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April 17, 1942 (Friday)

April 17, 2017 1271941

Santa Clara Spent the day at Grams. Ran across Natalie Knowle in Palo Alto. Took Janet Crosse out to Dinah’s…

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April 16, 1942 (Thursday)

April 16, 2017 1271941

Santa Clara Said goodbye to Buff, Mom, and Dad and headed north. Noticed “Okie” cars struggling through Tejon Pass. Wonder…

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April 15, 1942 (Wednesday)

April 15, 2017 1271941

Sierra Madre Spent the day with Mom. Hamburgers again for lunch at Eaton’s. Dinner with Buff, Mia, and Oats. Earrings…

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April 14, 1942 (Tuesday)

April 14, 2017 1271941

West Los Angeles Drove over to MGM at Culver City to watch Lloyd working on set of “Apache Trail” –…

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April 13, 1942 (Monday)

April 13, 2017 1271941

Sierra Madre Spent morning playing records on Buff’s Capehart – the record changing apparatus is superb, but I’ve heard better…

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April 12, 1942 (Sunday)

April 12, 2017 1271941

Sierra Madre Jerked out of bed at the god-awful hour of 9:30 a.m. to go to George O’Brien’s for breakfast.…

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April 11, 1942 (Saturday)

April 11, 2017 1271941

Beverly Hills Pick up mediocre pair of new khakis in downtown San Diego. Also bought three pair of gold-plated naval…

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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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