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The Diary of a Naval Aviator
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Category: March, 1943

March 21, 1943 (Sunday)

March 21, 2018 1271941

“Button,” Espiritu Santo Went to the Officers Club yesterday evening and got well tanked up on beer with a bunch…

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Posted in: March, 1943

March 20, 1943 (Saturday)

March 20, 2018 1271941

Rest day. Washed clothes. VP-12 is starting to send their crews down to Auckland, New Zealand for six-day vacation. Hope…

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March 19, 1943 (Friday)

March 19, 2018 1271941

“Buttons,” Espiritu Santo Patrolled 800 miles northwest to Pocklington Reef. Results negative. Weather good except at the south end of…

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March 18, 1943 (Thursday)

March 18, 2018 1271941

“Buttons,” Espiritu Santo Rained all day and all night again. Read and wrote letters long-owed. Patrol again tomorrow.

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March 17, 1943 (Wednesday)

March 17, 2018 1271941

“Buttons,” Espiritu Santo Lay around most of the day and got my stuff straightened out. Rained all day and all night.…

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March 16, 1943 (Tuesday)

March 16, 2018 1271941

“Button,” Espiritu Santo Patrolled 800 miles out to Ontong Java and Rekata Bay. Excellent weather all the way — for…

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March 15, 1943 (Monday)

March 15, 2018 1271941

“Button,” Espiritu Santo Lay around and got straightened out. We are flying patrols again. Four patrols daily, two on either…

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March 14, 1943 (Sunday)

March 14, 2018 1271941

“Button,” Espiritu Santo A month ago today was the St. Valentine’s Day massacre. This morning I departed, on instruments and…

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March 13, 1943 (Saturday)

March 13, 2018 1271941

“Cactus,” Guadalcanal Last of squadron departed this morning leaving me as sole Guadalcanal representative. Made a repeat trip on yesterday…

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March 12, 1943 (Friday) 

March 12, 2018 1271941 1 Comment

“Buttons,” Espiritu Santo Squadron departed, bag and baggage, for Button this morning, leaving me the rather flattering assignment of taking…

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Posted in: March, 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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