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The Diary of a Naval Aviator
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Category: June, 1942

June 30, 1942 (Tuesday)

June 30, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Day off. Went into town about noon and went up to see Boppa Keip’s friend, Mrs. Hedeman —…

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Posted in: June, 1942

June 29, 1942 (Monday)

June 29, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Patrol southwest today. Nothing.

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June 28, 1942 (Sunday)

June 28, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Uneventful. Cooper, and my roommate Ortwin,  returned today from Midway. They went up on the sixth of June…

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June 27, 1942 (Saturday)

June 27, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Supposedly my day off. Was snagged during the afternoon for a night hop. Went out with “Stack” Glanz…

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June 26, 1942 (Friday)

June 26, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor My first solo patrol today – a banner day. Am now a full-fledged PPC. Got the “Song of…

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June 25, 1942 (Thursday)

June 25, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Noje’s birthday today, but the fountain pen I want to get him hasn’t arrived yet. Work at the…

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June 24, 1942 (Wednesday)

June 24, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Spent the morning digging out dope on the islands of the South Pacific. Incidentally, I slept a full…

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June 23, 1942 (Tuesday)

June 23, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Very nasty accident at the hangar today. A civilian workman, repairing the roof, fell from one of the…

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June 22, 1942 (Monday)

June 22, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Glad I missed that brawl yesterday as most of the food was poisoned and there were some damn…

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June 21, 1942 (Sunday)

June 21, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Patrol due west today – nothing, as usual. Got back in time to see the end of a…

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Posted in: June, 1942

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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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