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Category: January, 1944

January 22, 1944 (Saturday)

January 22, 2019 1271941

Nouméa, New Caledonia Swam at Anse Vate with Joe Franek and Jerry Driscoll. Beach messed up by a recent hurricane.…

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Posted in: January, 1944

January 21, 1944 (Friday)

January 21, 2019 1271941

Nouméa, New Caledonia Capt. Morehouse and party to Nouméa. Staying at Receiving Ship – snores, creaky beds and many people. 

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January 20, 1944 (Thursday)

January 20, 2019 1271941

“Cactus,” Carney Field, Guadalcanal Took Admiral to Munda in the “24” — his first trip. Also looked over Ondonga, the…

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January 19, 1944 (Wednesday)

January 19, 2019 1271941

“Cactus,” Carney Field, Guadalcanal Sun came out for the first time in weeks.

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January 18, 1944 (Tuesday)

January 18, 2019 1271941

“Cactus,” Carney Field, Guadalcanal British mission passed through on its way south. Talked to Churchill’s representative, Lt.Gen. Lumsden, for a…

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January 17, 1944 (Monday)

January 17, 2019 1271941

“Cactus,” Carney Field, Guadalcanal Clapper & Mason returned and were sent on south to Button in our DC-3.

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January 16, 1944 (Sunday)

January 16, 2019 1271941

“Cactus,” Carney Field, Guadalcanal Clapper to Munda in our DC-3 with Bailey and Franck. Adm’l. Gunther finally departed.

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January 15, 1944 (Saturday)

January 15, 2019 1271941

“Cactus,” Carney Field, Guadalcanal Raymond Clapper and Frank Mason arrived unannounced. Gen’l. Murray insisted on upon taking them despite the…

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January 14, 1944 (Friday)

January 14, 2019 1271941

“Cactus,” Carney Field, Guadalcanal Bill King and Hayes Irons departed. Viva!!!! This diary is being very sloppily kept. There doesn’t…

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January 13, 1944 (Thursday)

January 13, 2019 1271941

“Cactus,” Carney Field, Guadalcanal Britishers finally went on North on Thurs. afternoon. Admiral Gunther showed up the same afternoon. Very…

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Posted in: January, 1944

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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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