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Category: May, 1943

May 11, 1943 (Tuesday)

May 11, 2018 1271941

Nouméa, New Caledonia Said goodbye to “Cutthroat” Lawless (Joseph Lawless, 1st Lt.USMC), “Boils” Ludwig (Lafe Ludwig, Lt. MC-USNR), “Saroyan” Allegrini…

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Posted in: May, 1943

May 10, 1943 (Monday)

May 10, 2018 1271941

Nouméa, New Caledonia I’m to get out of the hospital tomorrow and return to duty. Shall be sorry to leave…

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Posted in: May, 1943

May 9, 1943 (Sunday)

May 9, 2018 1271941

Nouméa, New Caledonia Last night we heard that the news that Tunis and Bizerte had fallen late Friday night. That…

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Posted in: May, 1943

May 8, 1943 (Saturday)

May 8, 2018 1271941

Nouméa, New Caledonia Talking with Allegrini this morning we mutually arrived at a stinking conclusion regarding the staffs in this…

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Posted in: May, 1943

May 7, 1943 (Friday)

May 7, 2018 1271941

Nouméa, New Caledonia Saw D. at noon and went for a swim. Spoke to Bill Ashford (Lt.Cmdr. USN-ComSoPac Air Operations) …

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May 6, 1943 (Thursday)

May 6, 2018 1271941

Nouméa, New Caledonia Found a semi-abandoned and ruined old French tile factory on a nearby hill. The crumbling ruins of…

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Posted in: May, 1943

May 5, 1943 (Wednesday)

May 5, 2018 1271941

Nouméa, New Caledonia Spent afternoon on the beach with D. and assorted fellow patients. Big argument about ships versus planes,…

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May 4, 1943 (Tuesday)

May 4, 2018 1271941

Nouméa, New Caledonia Ryder (COMSOPAC Transmitter) and Bright (USMCR-VMSB-232) left today. Weather cool but sunny — very like California. Met…

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Posted in: May, 1943

May 3, 1943 (Monday)

May 3, 2018 1271941

Nouméa, New Caledonia A dentist across the aisle, recovering from an appendectomy, spent the night trying to gas all of…

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May 2, 1943 (Sunday)

May 2, 2018 1271941

Nouméa, New Caledonia The bed next to me is occupied by Dr. Anthony Allegrini of San Jose and Santa Cruz.…

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Posted in: May, 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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