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The Diary of a Naval Aviator
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Category: December, 1941

Dec. 11, 1941 (Thursday)

December 11, 2016 1271941

Santa Clara Drove to town early with Peggy’s husband, Bob Greco. He seems like a pretty good kid, despite all…

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Posted in: December, 1941

Dec. 10, 1941 (Wednesday)

December 10, 2016 1271941

Santa Clara Went to town (S.F.) and reported in to Cmdt. 12 Naval District, and after some argument I was…

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Dec. 9, 1941 (Tuesday)

December 9, 2016 1271941

Santa Clara Sat around Gram’s all day. Packed my stuff into three of the cruise boxes. One I filled completely…

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Dec. 8, 1941 (Monday)

December 8, 2016 1271941 1 Comment

Santa Clara Over the Nevada desert this morning, the pilot sent back a news flash saying that Congress had declared…

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Dec. 7, 1941 (Sunday)

December 7, 2016 1271941

Chicago Sitting in the McCaheys’ sun-room this afternoon we were jolted to hear that the Japanese were attacking Pearl Harbor!…

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Dec. 6, 1941 (Saturday)

December 6, 2016 1271941

Chicago  Arrived Chicago this morning and registered at the Palmer House. Called Claire — she apologized for having a house…

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Dec. 5, 1941 (Friday)

December 5, 2016 1271941

New York Very heavy low fog over the town — newspapers tell of many auto accidents on the bridges and…

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Dec. 4, 1941 (Thursday)

December 4, 2016 1271941

New York Took another heat treatment. Went shopping on 5th Ave. Bought Claire a silver bracelet at Tiffany’s. Appropriate, with…

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Dec. 3, 1941 (Wednesday)

December 3, 2016 1271941

New York Called Central Aircraft this morning to see what progress had been made — just as I suspected —…

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Dec. 2, 1941 (Tuesday)

December 2, 2016 1271941

New York Went to the music hall to see Hitchcock’s “Suspicion” with Joan Fontaine and Cary Grant. Very good —…

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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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