Pacific War Diary, 1942-1945: The Secret Diary of an American Sailor

Book Description

Throughout the World War II campaign in the Pacific, an ordinary seaman defied navy regulations by surreptitiously compiling a diary on scraps of paper. One of the most extraordinary personal documents to emerge from the war, James J. Fahey's diary presents a vivid picture of an average sailor's daily life -- from the first battle to the typhoons and food shortages to the final desperate attacks by kamikaze pilots and Japanese suicide ships.

Customer Reviews:

This is what it must have been like.......2005-06-12

I was given a beat-up Avon paperback from 1963 and became thoroughly engrossed. Often repetitive but never dull, this day-by-day account by a Seaman First Class of three years of action on a light cruiser in the Pacific afforded me a new appreciation of what my father endured in the same places at the same time. Highly recommended to any American.

The Nagle Journal: A Diary of the Life of Jacob Nagle, Sailor, from the Year 1775 to 1841

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Unique insight into Jack Tar's life.
1800 Sailing history in the first person

The Nagle Journal: A Diary of the Life of Jacob Nagle, Sailor, from the Year 1775 to 1841

Manufacturer: Grove Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Customer Reviews:

Unique insight into Jack Tar's life........2005-02-19

The introduction of this book should not be skipped, as it is a very illuminating description of how and why the book came to be.
Having obtained a manuscript of a sailor's journal (which appeared to be the genuine article) in a fortuitous proxy bid at an auction, Mr. Dann has to assure himself and his publishers that it really is what it purports to be, prior to publication. Thus follows an account of the detective work done to validate the journal. The investigation leads through the US fiscal, military and naval archives, via the UK records, to Australia - all of which confirm the accuracy of the journal's dates, if not the content. However, there seems no reason to disbelieve the story, other than the tallness of the tale - but as we all know, the truth is often stranger than fiction ...
The transcript of the journal follows - miss-spellings, quaint phraseology, enigmatic punctuation and all (although thankfully some apposite corrections have been made). Each chapter is prefaced by an introduction which puts the following journal entries into historical context, provides background information and also explains terms which may not be familiar to the lay reader. Comprehensive notes elaborate on salient points and provide corroboration of Nagle's text.
The journal itself is unique in that it traces the daily life of the common seaman, rather than that of the movers and shakers of the time (there is a later journal by John Nichol which is far cruder and carries much less detail); this is a record of Jack Tar at work and at play, on land and at sea, at home and away - something that is very rare and should be treasured for the information it holds.
A must for every nautical historian's bookshelf.

1800 Sailing history in the first person.......1998-12-17

An absolutely fascinating work. Nagle sailed constantly and this journal is his amizingly accurate recollection of this life time of seafaring experience. Transcribed as he wrote it with misspellings, and errors it provides a vivid insight into the life of a sailor (not an officer) in the sailing navies of these times. Each chapter's forword by the editor sets the tone and historical context for the chapter and provides some of the historical documentation that authenticates this document.

Diary of a Contraband: The Civil War Passage of a Black Sailor

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Remarkable!

Diary of a Contraband: The Civil War Passage of a Black Sailor
William Benjamin Gould
Manufacturer: Stanford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

African-American & Black | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0804747083
Release Date: 2002-10-31

Book Description

The heart of this book is the remarkable Civil War diary of the author’s great-grandfather, William Benjamin Gould, an escaped slave who served in the United States Navy from 1862 until the end of the war. The diary vividly records Gould’s activity as part of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron off the coast of North Carolina and Virginia; his visits to New York and Boston; the pursuit to Nova Scotia of a hijacked Confederate cruiser; and service in European waters pursuing Confederate ships constructed in Great Britain and France.

Gould’s diary is one of only three known diaries of African American sailors in the Civil War. It is distinguished not only by its details and eloquent tone (often deliberately understated and sardonic), but also by its reflections on war, on race, on race relations in the Navy, and on what African Americans might expect after the war.

The book includes introductory chapters that establish the context of the diary narrative, an annotated version of the diary, a brief account of Gould’s life in Massachusetts after the war, and William B. Gould IV’s thoughts about the legacy of his great-grandfather and his own journey of discovery in learning about this remarkable man.

Customer Reviews:

Remarkable!.......2007-08-21

This scholarly study paints a portrait of an unsung patriot and black American patriarch. How many Americans escaped slavery, survived Civil War Naval duty and then raised sons who all fought in U.S. wars themselves?

The author, a Stanford law professor, is pretty accomplished himself: the first black man to head the National Labor Relations Board under President Clinton. Bill Gould has written a clear and sweet study of his great-grandfather. After taking in the panoramic sweep of this inspirational life, we are left to mull over the mystery of it. Who taught young William Gould to read and write well enough to produce a Civil War diary aboard a Union warship?

ON BOARD THE USS MASON: THE WORLD WAR II DIARY OF JAMES A. DUNN

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Recommended for military buffs and Black Studies students.
Unexcusible Intentionable Oversites of War

ON BOARD THE USS MASON: THE WORLD WAR II DIARY OF JAMES A. DUNN
MANSEL G. BLACKFORD
Manufacturer: Ohio State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Customer Reviews:

Recommended for military buffs and Black Studies students........2000-04-07

During World War II, James A. Dunn was a signalman on the USS Mason, a destroyer escort and the only ocean-going warship in the American navy to employ African Americans in positions other than cook or messmate. Manned by African American seamen (and commanded by white officers), the USS Mason made ten crossings of the Atlantic from 1944 to 1945, escorting convoys of merchant ships to and from the United Kingdom and North African, and operating in hunter-killer groups searching for German submarines. Dunn kept a day-to-day diary during his spare time on board the Masson. He recorded the daily life aborad the ship, including the duties and pastimes that made shipboard life endurable. The diary also reveals what it meant to be an African American in a white navy within a segregated American society -- including the shipboard tensions, cooperation and sense of unity. On Board The USS Mason is a unique and invaluable contribution to the growing body of World War II literature and eye-witness accounts, and will be of immense interest to students of Black Studies and American military history.

Unexcusible Intentionable Oversites of War.......2000-02-25

The crew of USS Mason's action in the North Atlantic was a showing of a well disiplined well led brave group of men. Being from Boston, Mass. I am aware of thier heroic actions,the DE Mason was built here at the Charlestown Navy Yard when I was about 6 years old. I personally feel the Captain on down took a real royal screwing.The Captain's log showed reason enough to be reconized but it was ignored by some predjudice Brass higher up the chain of command. The book well presented! A USMarine(caucasion)Korean Vet

Sailor of the Air: The 1917-1919 Letters & Diary of Usn Cmm/a Irving Edward Sheely

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Sailor of the Air: The 1917-1919 Letters & Diary of Usn Cmm/a Irving Edward Sheely
Irving Edward Sheely
Manufacturer: University of Alabama Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0817307095

Showing The Flag: The Civil War Naval Diary Of Moses Safford

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Great Book!

Showing The Flag: The Civil War Naval Diary Of Moses Safford
Moses Safford , Lawrence J. Bopp , and Stephen R. Bockmiller
Manufacturer: History Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Naval | Military | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1596290145

Book Description

From Baltimore natives Lawrence Bopp and Stephen Bockmiller comes Showing the Flag: The Civil War Naval Diary of Moses Safford, USS Constellation, a new perspective on the Civil War and life in the navy in the mid-19th century. As the Civil War raged at home, naval yeoman Moses Safford toured the Mediterranean on the USS Constellation, dispatched in 1862 to "show the flag," or defend American merchant shipping. An attorney and accomplished sailor before the war, Moses kept a diary in his seafarer's way, leaving us one of the most detailed accounts of life aboard a Civil War warship known to exist.

Published for the first time and including insightful annotations and biographical information, this personal journal documents life aboard a navy ship in a time of national turmoil. Although the diary was intended for his own edification and personal remembrance, Safford's writing brings the reader back in time and place and opens a window on the past, allowing a view of Civil War naval life through the eyes of a literate and master seaman.

Customer Reviews:

Great Book!.......2005-05-07

I found Showing the Flag the Civil War Diary of Moses Safford to be an excellent source of information on life aboard a Civil War era warship. Being a former Navy man who had sailed the Mediterranean, I really enjoyed seeing how many things were similar to my cruise in the Med over 100 years later.

The editors did a great job and I really appreciated the footnotes. This book is a must read for any one looking into what life was like on a Civil War warship and the only one still in existence today! If you do visit the USS Constellation while in Baltimore's Inner Harbor area, I feel reading this book prior to your visit would greatly enhance your experience onboard the ship.

Joe Erdmann

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Great book on Great lakes
Great Lakes History
Great Lakes History
A different experience
Life on the Lakes

Meditations of a Great Lakes Sailor
Stanley B. Graham
Manufacturer: Belding Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Men's Adventure | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0967485207

Book Description

In June of 1952 Rick Stevens, a young college student who has just finished his sophomore year, ships out on an iron ore freighter as a deckhand. He had acquired his U.S. Coast Guard card and had taken this summer job because he wanted to save money for college. This is the first full-time labor job he's ever held, and he soon learns that he may not be physically capable of doing a deckhand's job. But he is later assigned to the galley where he works as a porter, a job he can handle. He is intrigued by the work-a-day life of the sailors, and by living and working with them he comes to know how they think and feel about their lives and relationships with other people. Rick had always been searching for friends, and he strikes up two strong friendships among the sailors. Unknown to all of them, he keeps a diary which he hides under his mattress; in it he records fragments of their conversations, descriptions of the work, character sketches, and his own meditations. During ths summer of working on the lalakes, Rick learns a great deal about himself--his abilities, interests--and decides upon a course of action, his career.

Customer Reviews:

Great book on Great lakes.......2002-04-08

for those of you who want a picture of life on an oar boat on the Great Lakes in the 1950's, this book is for you. Very enjoyable and accurate portrayal of that life.

Great Lakes History.......2002-04-08

I sailed on a number of Great Lakes oar boats in the 1950's. Reading this book, I had a vivid re-experience of my life as a Great Lakes sailor, both positive and negative. For anyone interested in an accurate and compelling account of life on oar boats back then, this book will give you a good read as well as a historical account of that time.

Great Lakes History.......2002-04-08

I was a Great Lakes sailor in the 1950's and worked on a number of ore boats. I view Meditations of a Great Lakes Sailor as a highly accurate, albeit fictional, account of what it was like to work on the Great Lakes at that time. Reading this account, I was enabled to vividly relive some of my own experiences, both positive and negative. This book, I believe, has historical significance in recreating an important time in our history.

A different experience.......2002-01-19

This portraiture of a young college student, Rick, earning money at sea as a deckhand and porter, delves into the meaning of life experienced by him and his sailor friends, some crude; the constant search for understanding of the way other men and women think, and what makes them tick. Are sailors beasts or soul searchers? In the end, does it matter which man wins?
In discovering an appreciation of the worthiness and intelligence of the average working man who might be unschooled and semi-illiterate, Rick decides to learn about the mysteries of the human mind by studying psychology and psychiatry.
A well written novel.

Life on the Lakes.......2000-07-03

I was sorry to reach the end of Meditations of a Great Lakes Sailor. I wanted to spend more time with this unruly rag-tag band of men bonding and brawling on an ore freighter. Rick Stevens, the main character, grows up a la Catcher in the Rye on the lakes. Aboard the B.F. Steadfast, which aptly describes both the boat and his own constitution, Rick observes the lives of his shipmates with a blend of curiosity, naïveté and aloofness. In a hidden diary, he records conversations and antics without judgment. Mr. Graham's descriptions create three-dimensional characters, some larger than life, others rather repulsive, yet all enjoyable and interesting. Some even deserve their own book. At any rate, Meditations is a tribute to those living on the lakes.

The Adventures of M. James: A Sailor's Diary Aboard the U.S.S. Monterey, CVL-26 : World War II Pacific Ocean, September 15, 1943 to October 19, 1945, Atlantic Ocean November 18,

Average customer rating:

A candid portrayal of war

The Adventures of M. James: A Sailor's Diary Aboard the U.S.S. Monterey, CVL-26 : World War II Pacific Ocean, September 15, 1943 to October 19, 1945, Atlantic Ocean November 18,
Michael James
Manufacturer: Turn of the Screw Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Customer Reviews:

A candid portrayal of war.......2006-03-08

The Adventures Of M. James: A Sailor's Diary Aboard The USS Monterey, CVL-26 by Michael James presents the World War II diary entries kept by a young sailor, against strict Navy regulations. Brief day-by-day entries tell of more than two years of action in the Pacific Theater, including eleven major battles and a massive typhoon that nearly sank the Monterey. Entries also tell of long weeks of boredom, the loss of friends who fell overboard with no hope of rescue, the author's concern for his siblings in other Marine divisions, and his surprise at his own excitement in battle. A candid portrayal of war, illustrated with black-and-white photographs, and especially recommended for naval history buffs.

A Sailor's Log: Water-Tender Frederick T. Wilson, USN, on Asiatic Station, 1899-1901

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A Sailor's Log: Water-Tender Frederick T. Wilson, USN, on Asiatic Station, 1899-1901
Frederick T. Wilson
Manufacturer: Kent State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0873387821

An American Seafarer in the Age of Sail: The Erotic Diaries of Philip C. Van Buskirk, 1851-1870

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A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO HISTORY ON THE HIGH SEAS
Interesting source, disappointingly edited
Meticulous and engaging

An American Seafarer in the Age of Sail: The Erotic Diaries of Philip C. Van Buskirk, 1851-1870
Barry Richard Burg
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0300056370

Book Description

Philip Van Buskirk enlisted in the U.S. Marines in 1846, when he was twelve years old. Beginning in 1851, he recorded his thoughts and experiences on board ship, providing a firsthand account of the countries he visited, the brawling nation in which he lived, and the everyday life and homoerotic exploits of the sailors and marines who sailed with him. In this intimate portrait, B. R. Burg draws on Van Buskirk`s unconventional and revelatory diaries and on social, religious, and medical writings of the time to create a picture of nineteenth-century America that is rarely seen.

Customer Reviews:

A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO HISTORY ON THE HIGH SEAS.......2005-01-21

(...)From a sociological standpoint, many parents with little means to support their families allowed their young children to leave their homes and seek out the life that may or may not have have been meant for them, many at a very young age. As a result, their sexual and socioligical attitudes were lacking.

Another issue about Van Buskirk's diary is not what he wrote in his diary but what he failed to include in it. (...)What were the backgrounds of the other young sailors he shared his life with? He gave almost no insights into the other sailors' backgrounds and previous pasts. Was he so intent on his glorious crusade to stop them from their "evil" ways that he had no time to find out something about their "checkered" pasts? Of course, we will never know the answers to these and many other questions.

All in all, this diary captures a rare view of one man's life as a sailor as well as his self sacrificing, moral crusade for those around him.

Interesting source, disappointingly edited.......2001-08-21

Picking up this book, I expected it to contain an edition of Van Buskirk's diaries. Instead, it contains the events within them paraphrased and summarized by the editor. I'm not sure what the purpose was of presenting the texts in this way.

"Erotic", in the subtitle, is a misnomer. Van Buskirk was a pedophile, though he seems not to have acted much on his desires. He was attracted, according to his diaries, to both young boys and girls. At least based on what we're given by the editor, he gives little description of any sexual encounter.

This book is fascinating in that it gives us a portrait of a disturbed individual. Despite the author's inexplicable attempts to portray Van Buskirk as normal, the diarist was not simply a product of his time. He was unable to keep a job and, on several occasions, absconded with others' money and possessions; when he joined the Confederate army, he deserted. He was obsessive, emotionally immature, and had sexual problems -- pedophilia, compulsive obsession and nocturnal emissions into his 30's. He was unable to maintain a meaningful relationship with any of the subjects of his quasi-sexual obsessions. Few memoirs give us such a window into the mind of a messed-up person.

Van Buskirk's diaries also provide information on life aboard US Navy ships in the mid-19th century, which was apparently characterized by frequent homoerotic behavior (which the obsessive Van Buskirk disapproved of but was fascinated with).

Meticulous and engaging.......1999-02-27

Book stores are full of works that view history through the eyes of rich, famous people. But many times the unknowns have had front row seats, too, and their insights are fresh, new, and honest. Burg's Van Buskirk is perhaps the most quirky voice from history since Samuel Pepys. And Burg's witty, clean writing and meticulous attention to detail make him real -- and relavent. This book chronicles a fascinating time in history, and exposes an interesting bit-player, warts and all. The price probably means that only those interested in maritime, history, or gay-studies will end up stumbling across this book, but it is worthy of a wider audience. A fascinating read.

Product Description

A vastly informative book, this is about the life of a great man of medicine. His personal experiences as well as his observations and ideals are described in an engaging and elucidating manner. A must-read.

The Autobiography of a Quack and The Case of George Dedlow (Large Print)

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The Autobiography of a Quack and The Case of George Dedlow (Large Print)
M.D., S. Weir Mitchell
Manufacturer: ReadHowYouWant.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1425064337
Release Date: 2007-01-03

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The Autobiography of a Quack and The Case of George Dedlow [EasyRead Comfort Edition]

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The Autobiography of a Quack and The Case of George Dedlow [EasyRead Comfort Edition]
M.D., S. Weir Mitchell
Manufacturer: ReadHowYouWant.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1425065252
Release Date: 2007-01-03

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The Autobiography of a Quack and The Case of George Dedlow [EasyRead Edition]

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The Autobiography of a Quack and The Case of George Dedlow [EasyRead Edition]
M.D., S. Weir Mitchell
Manufacturer: ReadHowYouWant.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Font Size 11 | Alternative Formats | Formats | Books
ASIN: 1425064795
Release Date: 2007-01-03

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The Autobiography of a Quack and The Case of George Dedlow [EasyRead Large Edition]

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The Autobiography of a Quack and The Case of George Dedlow [EasyRead Large Edition]
M.D., S. Weir Mitchell
Manufacturer: ReadHowYouWant.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1425065716
Release Date: 2007-01-03

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The autobiography of a quack,: And The case of George Dedlow (American novels of muckraking, propaganda, and social protest)

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The autobiography of a quack,: And The case of George Dedlow (American novels of muckraking, propaganda, and social protest)
S. Weir Mitchell
Manufacturer: Gregg Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006BWUU6

The Autobiography of a Quack and The Case of George Dedlow [EasyRead Super Large 18pt Edition]

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The Autobiography of a Quack and The Case of George Dedlow [EasyRead Super Large 18pt Edition]
M.D., S. Weir Mitchell"
Manufacturer: ReadHowYouWant.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1425011551
Release Date: 2007-08-21

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