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Category: January, 1943

January 21, 1943 (Thursday)

January 21, 2018 1271941

“Buttons,” Espiritu Santo Took off from Nandi at 0700 and flew to Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides. Elapsed time…

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Posted in: January, 1943

January 20, 1943 (Wednesday)

January 20, 2018 1271941

Nandi, Fijis Landed at Nandi on the island of Viti Levu and the Fijis at about 1430. The island is…

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Posted in: January, 1943

January 19, 1943 (Tuesday)

January 19, 2018 1271941

Canton Island Left the Waldorf at 0430 for a 0600 takeoff. Climbed to 12,000 feet to get over the equatorial…

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Posted in: January, 1943

January 18, 1943 (Monday)

January 18, 2018 1271941

Canton Island Out through the damn front around Palmyra this morning – on instruments again. Altitude 150 ft, visibility zero,…

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Posted in: January, 1943

January 17, 1943 (Sunday)

January 17, 2018 1271941

Palmyra Island Arrived here this afternoon from Barbers Point, Oahu, in route to Esperitu Santo via, Canton and Nandi. Palmyra…

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Posted in: January, 1943

January 16, 1943 (Saturday)

January 16, 2018 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Leave tomorrow morning at 0800 for Palmyra — Canton — Nandi — Espiritu Santo. Made final test…

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Posted in: January, 1943

January 15, 1943 (Friday)

January 15, 2018 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Skipper pulled out this morning with the first three planes. I took off immediately after them on…

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Posted in: January, 1943

January 14, 1943 (Thursday)

January 14, 2018 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Out to the squadron at the crack of dawn. Ate breakfast with Thomas at the R.R. station.…

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Posted in: January, 1943

January 13, 1943 (Wednesday)

January 13, 2018 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Out to the squadron this morning in the pouring rain with Wally and Fuzzy and “Rose-Mary,” who…

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Posted in: January, 1943

January 12, 1943 (Tuesday)

January 12, 2018 1271941

Barbers Point NAS Started packing up my junk in preparation for going South. Did not go out on scheduled gunnery…

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Posted in: January, 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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