1944 - 1945 ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT DIARY HANDWRITTEN BY A PERSONABLE RADIO SIGNALMAN DODGING SHRAPNEL,TORPEDOES AND JAPANESE KAMIKAZE PILOTS

On offer is a super, original 1944 - 1945 manuscript diary and relic of one man's service aboard the USS Pontiac. Handwritten by John Koval, a Signalman we believe, of New York City writes approximately 31 pages of entries of which 6 or 7 relate to his job the balance are from a crewman who was right in the middle of it. Attacks by Jap planes, oil slicks, Troop ship struck by torpedo, Pres. Roosevelt dies, Japanese suicide boats very active, Okinawa, U.S.S Bunker Hill sunk. Japanese suicide planes attack ship, crew injured, planes shot down, Japanese swimming out to ships at night attacking ships, friends killed, constant General Quarters and lots more. Here are some snippets: June 3rd 1945 I pray to god our luck and good fortune hold out as it did today. Deeply regret to say that one of the boys [Frenchy] was lost due to enemy action god rest his soul. Joe and some of the other boys were injured. Joe is from Olyphant. Shrapnel from bursting plane as it hit water passed through Joe's helmet. I think he will be ok. Plane struck about 20 feet off our port bow. Our excellent pilots kept most of the enemy pilots busy by shooting them down. June 11th Today another enemy plane fell very close to the ship. We thank god for this. Enemy still quite active our GQs are quite frequent. The rhythmic blasting about guns and those of other ships around us makes you wonder how the enemy expects to get through. There is no way out once they get in." The 6 x 3 inch book is in rough shape, tape on the spine but the pages have still come undone but all appears complete and legible. Overall Fair+.; Manuscript; 24mo - over 5" - 5¾" tall; KEYWORDS: HISTORY OF, JOHN KOVAL, RADIO SIGNALMAN, U.S.S. PONTIAC, SOUTH PACIFIC, PACIFIC THEATRE, WWII, WW2, WORLD WAR 2, WORLD WAR I, THE WAR AGAINST JAPAN, USN, UNITED STATES NAVY, MARINES, NAVAL BATTLES, AMERICANA,HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, AUTOGRAPHED, AUTHORS, DOCUMENT, LETTER, AUTOGRAPH, KEEPSAKE, WRITER, HAND WRITTEN, DOCUMENTS, SIGNED, LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS, HISTORICAL, HOLOGRAPH, WRITERS, AUTOGRAPHS, PERSONAL, MEMOIR, MEMORIAL, PERSONAL HISTORY, ARCHIVE, DIARY, DIARIES, JOURNAL, LOG, PRIMARY SOURCE, FIRST HAND ACCOUNT, SOCIAL HISTORY, PERSONAL STORIES, LIVING HISTORY, ANTIQUITÉ, CONTRAT, VÉLIN, DOCUMENT, MANUSCRIT, PAPIER ANTIKE, BRIEF, PERGAMENT, DOKUMENT, MANUSKRIPT, PAPIER OGGETTO D'ANTIQUARIATO, ATTO, VELINA, DOCUMENTO, MANOSCRITTO, CARTA ANTIGÜEDAD, HECHO, VITELA, DOCUMENTO, MANUSCRITO, PAPEL,BIOGRAPHY BIOGRAPHICAL AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY PERSONAL NARRATIVESTROOPS SOLDIERS SERVICEMEN