Thank you.
I had a student who brought in her grandfather’s war diary. He served on USS Bennington—a carrier. The family found it hard to read his handwriting and didn’t understand some of what he wrote. (Being a jr high teacher, I found reading his handwriting pretty easy.) Anyway, I copied the whole thing on my computer, added pictures of planes, etc. and explained what a ‘Betty’ or a ‘Zeke’ was.
Fascinating read. Bennington was part of the Okinawa invasion (April 1, Easter Sunday/April Fools Day/codenamed Love Day). At first he spelled the name of the island phonetically, but as time wore on, he ended with the correct spelling. His diary also reflects what everyone thought the invasion would be like, over in a week or so, and then dragging out to months. He also described kamikaze attacks (his regular job was storekeeper, but his battle station job was as a talker, relaying orders, “hit the deck” he relayed.
Fun fact. Bennington at one point hit a whale and had to reverse engines to free it from the bow.