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The Diary of a Naval Aviator
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Category: February, 1942

Feb. 8, 1942 (Sunday)

February 8, 2017 1271941

Netherlands East Indies Another raid today — heard that Tokyo radio said this will be the second Rotterdam — they’ll…

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Posted in: February, 1942

Feb. 7, 1942 (Saturday)

February 7, 2017 1271941

Netherlands East Indies Still down with fever — feel like hell. “Doc” been over to see me several times and…

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Feb. 6, 1942 (Friday)

February 6, 2017 1271941

Netherlands East Indies Jim Hogan didn’t come back from his Balikpapan patrol yesterday. His last message said he was being…

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Feb. 5, 1942 (Thursday)

February 5, 2017 1271941

Netherlands East Indies No indications of a raid until about 1030 when the siren suddenly went off. The Dutch fighters…

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Feb. 4, 1942 (Wednesday)

February 4, 2017 1271941

Netherlands East Indies About 0900 we receive word from Makassar that two waves of Jap bombers (totaling about 60) were…

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Feb. 3, 1942 (Tuesday)

February 3, 2017 1271941

Netherlands East Indies Took off at dawn and headed north for the East Coast of Borneo in company with another…

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Feb. 2, 1942 (Monday)

February 2, 2017 1271941

Surabaya The people that seem to be flying nowadays (since the war) aren’t the same old bunch that used to…

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Feb. 1, 1942 (Sunday)

February 1, 2017 1271941

Surabaya Went up into the mountains about 40 miles from here to a place called Trétes. Went swimming at Villa…

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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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