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The Diary of a Naval Aviator
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February 20, 1944 (Sunday)

February 20, 2019 1271941

Piva Field, Bougainville The big news is Truk. The attack there has drained Rabaul of of Jap aircraft and our…

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Posted in: February, 1944

February 19, 1944 (Saturday)

February 19, 2019 1271941

Piva Field, Bougainville Flew Admiral Halsey and 4 staff officers to Piva this morning. His own PB4Y was unable to…

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Posted in: February, 1944

February 18, 1944 (Friday)

February 18, 2019 1271941

“Cactus,” Carney Field, Guadalcanal Return to Guadal this morning stopping, enroute at at Munda to have a worn tire changed.…

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Posted in: February, 1944

February 17, 1944 (Thursday)

February 17, 2019 1271941

Torokina, Bougainville, Solomon Islands Went swimming this afternoon on a beautiful volcanic sand beach just off of Torokina fighter strip.…

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Posted in: February, 1944

February 16, 1944 (Wednesday)

February 16, 2019 1271941

Torokina, Bougainville, Solomon Islands We’ve lost our first airfield in almost two years to the Japs. The 500 foot strip…

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Posted in: February, 1944

February 15, 1944 (Tuesday)

February 15, 2019 1271941

Torokina, Bougainville, Solomon Islands Our troops landed on Green Island this morning (Squarepeg operation), thus successfully cutting Bougainville off from…

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Posted in: February, 1944

February 14, 1944 (Monday)

February 14, 2019 1271941

Torokina, Bougainville, Solomon Islands To Bougainville today! Pass between Treasury and Shortland Is. exactly one year to the hour since…

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Posted in: February, 1944

February 13, 1944 (Sunday)

February 13, 2019 1271941

“Cactus,” Carney Field, Guadalcanal Had lunch with Admirals Halsey and Fitch, and Bill Kitchell, at ComSoPac advance headquarters. Good decorations…

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Posted in: February, 1944

February 12, 1944 (Saturday)

February 12, 2019 1271941

“Cactus,” Carney Field, Guadalcanal Admiral Halsey and staff arrive today. Had Lefty Rogers to dinner. 

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Posted in: February, 1944

February 11, 1944 (Friday)

February 11, 2019 1271941

“Cactus,” Carney Field, Guadalcanal Good weather. 

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Posted in: February, 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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