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Category: April, 1943

April 30, 1943 (Friday)

April 30, 2018 1271941

Nouméa, New Caledonia Drove over to Magenta Bay with Ryder (Lt., USNR) and Bright (Lt., USMCR-VSB);  to the former’s radio…

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Posted in: April, 1943

April 29, 1943 (Thursday)

April 29, 2018 1271941

Nouméa, New Caledonia Spent whole afternoon with D. on beach. My fellow officers are beginning to make scurrilous remarks. D,…

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April 28, 1943 (Wednesday)

April 28, 2018 1271941

Nouméa, New Caledonia Still raining. Army camp to the rear is flooded to a depth of two to three feet.…

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April 27, 1943 (Tuesday)

April 27, 2018 1271941

Nouméa, New Caledonia Went over to a nearby hut for a dental examination this morning, and before I knew it,…

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April 26, 1943 (Monday)

April 26, 2018 1271941

Nouméa, New Caledonia Ditto yesterday. Admiral Halsey on the beach at noon. He spoke a while to D. (She’s his…

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Posted in: April, 1943

April 25, 1943 (Sunday)

April 25, 2018 1271941

Nouméa, New Caledonia Easter Sunday. No eggs though. No church either, I’m ashamed to say. Haven’t been to church more…

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April 24, 1943 (Saturday)

April 24, 2018 1271941

Nouméa, New Caledonia Spent the afternoon on the beach with Diane and two of her friends. Water clear and warm…

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April 23, 1943 (Friday)

April 23, 2018 1271941

Nouméa, New Caledonia A very wonderful spot, this hospital. Located directly upon a beautiful stretch of beach, it commands a…

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April 22, 1943 (Thursday)

April 22, 2018 1271941

“Button,” Espiritu Santo — Nouméa, New Caledonia After much delay and  red tape, I finally left Button on a 2:35…

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April 21, 1943 (Wednesday)

April 21, 2018 1271941

“Button,” Espiritu Santo After three days of stewing and red tape, Wink Heywood finally wrangled me a “scat” trip to…

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Posted in: April, 1943

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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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