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The Diary of a Naval Aviator
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September 20, 1942 (Sunday)

September 20, 2017 1271941

Ford Island, Pearl Harbor Still packing gear at the squadron.

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Posted in: September, 1942

September 19, 1942 (Saturday)

September 19, 2017 1271941

Ford Island, Pearl Harbor Worked around the squadron in the morning. The remainder of the bunch from Alaska and the…

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Posted in: September, 1942

September 18, 1942 (Friday)

September 18, 2017 1271941

Ford Island, Pearl Harbor Worked around squadron in the morning. Turned to on my unfinished painting, which I started before…

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September 17, 1942 (Tuesday)

September 17, 2017 1271941

Ford Island, Pearl Harbor Had tooth pulled this afternoon — good, quick job. Sliced up one finger in an electric…

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September 16, 1942 (Wednesday)

September 16, 2017 1271941

Ford Island, Pearl Harbor Worked around squadron. Tooth still too swollen to be extracted. Took my first swim since “my…

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Posted in: September, 1942

September 15, 1942 (Tuesday)

September 15, 2017 1271941

Ford Island, Pearl Harbor Worked around squadron. Canceled a dance date this afternoon at the tennis club with Genevieve Albers…

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September 14, 1942 (Monday)

September 14, 2017 1271941

Ford Island, Pearl Harbor Confidential dope got around last night that all hell is breaking loose in the Solomons. Four…

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September 13, 1942 (Sunday)

September 13, 2017 1271941

Ford Island, Pearl Harbor Took the duty this morning. Face starting to swell from wisdom tooth. Felt like hell all…

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Posted in: September, 1942

September 12, 1942 (Saturday)

September 12, 2017 1271941

Ford Island, Pearl Harbor My damned wisdom teeth are acting up again. Goddammit! Went into town with Jonesy and a…

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Posted in: September, 1942

September 11, 1942 (Friday)

September 11, 2017 1271941

Ford Island, Pearl Harbor Back to the Island with “Stack” Glanz and “Gibby” Gibson in the morning. Laid low all…

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Posted in: September, 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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