A Good Man's Story

This is the memoir of my father, James N. Nicholson. A great deal of it includes remarkable recollections from his time in the Navy from 1942-1945. I hope that reading it gives you, as it did me, some appreciation of the incalculable sacrifice, inspiration and example this generation of incredibly strong and resolute Americans has offered to their children and future generations.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Postscript

›
Dad left for the next mission on August 13, 2010. He lived a heck of a life in his 89 years. He always thought of himself as one of the luck...
4 comments:
Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Added Thanks

›
Thanks to those of you who have come online to read this memoir. Notably, to our friend John Berry, who has more knowledge and interest than...
2 comments:
Saturday, April 21, 2007

Forward

›
The following series of posts comprise a memoir my father, Jim Nicholson, wrote about the first twenty-eight years of his life. If you read ...
1 comment:

Medals and Commendations

›
We've received a good suggestion that we post a list of the medals and commendations that were awarded to Dad and the units he was in fo...

Prologue

›
The purpose for this writing is to clarify and to put into proper sequence some of the events which I have experienced in my lifetime, for t...

Early Memories--Growing Up in Harrison 1921-1933

›
I was born December 25th, 1921 in Harrison, Arkansas at the corner of South Maple Street and West Newman Avenue; the fourth child of William...
1 comment:

High School

›
During my junior and senior year in high school, I worked part time at the Coca Cola bottling plant. Ben Garrison was operating the franchis...

Moving to DC--Working for the War Department--1941

›
In the spring of 1941, I took a Civil Service clerk-typist examination and as a result, received an appointment and went to work for the War...

The U.S. goes to War

›
On December 7, 1941, Vaughn and I attended a Sunday Matinee and when we came out of the theatre, the "extra" news editions were on...

Enlisted--July, 1942

›
I enlisted in the Navy in July, 1942 and lost contact with Vaughn. I guess we were both just too busy after that to keep in touch. I always ...

Radio School--NYC--Oct.-Dec. 1942

›
En route to New York, we traveled on a small craft up the Chesapeake Bay to Wilmington, Delaware. From there, we traveled by truck to Pier 9...

Aviation School, Gunnery School--March/April, 1943

›
When I got to Aviation school at Memphis, I decided that "There were only two Navies, the Queen's Navy and Crump's Navy". ...
2 comments:

Training with Air Group Six--Spring, 1943

›
When we arrived in San Diego, we were all assigned to Torpedo Squadron Six (VT-6). VT-6 was a part of Air Group Six that was just reforming....

Ed's Note--Dates

›
You'll see that the recollections for the remainder of the war are detailed with more specific dates. As Dad notes, he was able to keep ...

The Enterprise--Nov-Dec. 1943--The Gilbert Islands

›
The Enterprise arrived on the scene in November and we went aboard her to join Task Force 58. Thanksgiving Day of 1943 was observed on the ...

Dec. 1943-Feb. 1944---The Intrepid--The Marshall Islands, Truk

›
The first week we were back to Pearl, the entire squadron moved into the Royal Hawaiian Hotel for a weeks R and R ( rest and recreation). Th...

A Well-Deserved Leave--March, 1944

›
We all received a 30 days leave of absence when we arrived at Alameda and it surely was good to be headed back to Arkansas. I rode the train...

Regrouping in the States--1944--Air Group Seventeen

›
I had to return to Alameda, after my 30 day leave and when I arrived, they assigned me to VT-17, as Air Group Seventeen was just reforming. ...

Back to Sea--Guam--To Pearl on the Hollandia--Nov. Dec,1944

›
We spent the first twelve days of November en route to Pearl Harbor on the Hollandia . The Hollandia was a jeep carrier (a flight deck on a...

Jan.-March, 1945--The Hornet--Attacking the Japanese Mainland

›
My flight log shows that our crew flew 6 flights between the 13th and 26th of January, while we were on Guam. Two of these flights were land...

April, 1945--Okinawa--Sinking the Yamato--Kikai Shima

›
The Yamato exploding Although the squadron continued glide bombing attacks on Okinawa prior to the invasion and support attacks after the i...
1 comment:

May, 1945--Okinawa, Kyushu, Shikoku, Tokuno Shima,

›
On May 10th, we flew a four hour practice gunnery mission, (our aerial gunners shooting at tow sleeves). And on May 12th, I logged a three a...
›
Home
View web version
Powered by Blogger.