I am digitizing my dad’s WW2 letters and memorabilia. He had a camera during the war during Operation Torch, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Excellent!
One of my jr high students brought in his dad’s war diary. He served on USS Bennington (CV 20). They had trouble reading his handwriting. (Being a jr high teacher I am fluent in crummy cursive.)
So I copied out the whole thing on my computer, including explanations of things like what a Betty was. His details of Okinawa, including the progress of the battle from his point of view is fascinating. The evolution of his spelling of the island’s name is also pretty cool.
He described kamikaze attacks he experienced. His ship job was storekeeper but his battle station was as a talker relaying information of the attacks.
I suggested to the family that they donate his diary to some historical site, like the museum at Pensacola, but they declined.