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Pacific War Diary, 1942-1945: The Secret Diary of an American Sailor
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 experience of battle in the waters surrounding the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific to the typhoons and food shortages to the final desperate attacks by kamikaze pilots and Japanese suicide ships near Okinawa.
404 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1963
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251 people want to read
About the author
James J. Fahey
5 books2 followersJames J. Fahey was born in the Hell’s Kitchen section of New York. At a very young age, both of his parents died. James and his siblings left New York to live with their aunt and uncle. They were raised in the wonderful city of Waltham, Massachusetts.
On October 3, 1942, during the heat of World War II, Fahey enlisted in the Navy. A month and a half later, on November 23, he boarded the U.S.S. Montpelier. His rank was Seaman First Class. His duty was firing a 40 millimeter machine gun.
Fahey was kept very busy aboard the USS Montpelier. The ship fought in nearly every battle in the South and Central Pacific. In fact, the Montpelier won thirteen battle stars, which was the most of any ship in the Pacific during World War II.
At the end of the war, after America dropped the atomic bomb on Japan, the Montpelier was among the first ships to visit Hiroshima. Fahey walked through Hiroshima, and the radiation poisoning led to health problems for him that were to last a lifetime.
While all of this took place, Fahey kept a secret diary. He wrote down his schedules, his meals, his feelings, the ship's whereabouts, etc. He had to keep this secret because it was against the rules to keep a written record while aboard a naval vessel. He wrote his diary on anything he could get his hands on: loose paper, candy wrappers, he even used some of the admiral's stationary.
Upon returning home on December 24, 1945, Fahey hid his diary in a tin box under his bed, in fear of it being discovered. He soon forgot about his diary and continued his life as it had been before the war. Fahey was forced to make a living by working outside, because of health problems caused by radiation exposure. So he decided to work in Waltham's sanitation department. Fahey worked as a trash collector and later became a garbage truck driver.
In 1960, Admiral Samuel Elliot Morrison, an admiral on the Montpelier, was writing a memoir about his service during World War II, and he asked Fahey for some insights. Fahey offered the Admiral his diary entries. The offer was accepted, and finally after 15 years of being hid away, Fahey's diary was acknowledged once again.
When Morrison saw Fahey's diary he was astounded. He advised him to take his notes to Houghton Mifflin immediately. So Fahey did. And not too long after that, James Fahey was the proud author of the bestseller, *Pacific War Diary, 1942-1945.*
Fahey received many awards for his book. In November 1963, he received a resolution from the city of Waltham (Massachusetts).
In 1964, Fahey was recognized as the national "Garbage Man of the Year". He was also given the opportunity to meet President John F. Kennedy the previous year and give him a copy of his book. (A photo of Fahey with President Kennedy is at The Waltham Museum.) Fahey also gave his book to Presidents Johnson, Nixon, and Ford, as well as Robert Kennedy.
Although he received many awards, what distinguishes Fahey the most is what he did with his profits. He sent all his earnings to a priest, Fr. Michael, in India. Fr. Michael used the money to build a church. But, what was built in India was not a church. With all the money James sent, Fr. Michael was able to build a cathedral. The people of India, Fr. Michael included, were extremely grateful. Fr. Michael referred to James as "the man with the golden heart."
In 1991, James J. Fahey died of radiation poisoning. He was 73 years old. He was survived by his wife Adele.
On October 3, 1942, during the heat of World War II, Fahey enlisted in the Navy. A month and a half later, on November 23, he boarded the U.S.S. Montpelier. His rank was Seaman First Class. His duty was firing a 40 millimeter machine gun.
Fahey was kept very busy aboard the USS Montpelier. The ship fought in nearly every battle in the South and Central Pacific. In fact, the Montpelier won thirteen battle stars, which was the most of any ship in the Pacific during World War II.
At the end of the war, after America dropped the atomic bomb on Japan, the Montpelier was among the first ships to visit Hiroshima. Fahey walked through Hiroshima, and the radiation poisoning led to health problems for him that were to last a lifetime.
While all of this took place, Fahey kept a secret diary. He wrote down his schedules, his meals, his feelings, the ship's whereabouts, etc. He had to keep this secret because it was against the rules to keep a written record while aboard a naval vessel. He wrote his diary on anything he could get his hands on: loose paper, candy wrappers, he even used some of the admiral's stationary.
Upon returning home on December 24, 1945, Fahey hid his diary in a tin box under his bed, in fear of it being discovered. He soon forgot about his diary and continued his life as it had been before the war. Fahey was forced to make a living by working outside, because of health problems caused by radiation exposure. So he decided to work in Waltham's sanitation department. Fahey worked as a trash collector and later became a garbage truck driver.
In 1960, Admiral Samuel Elliot Morrison, an admiral on the Montpelier, was writing a memoir about his service during World War II, and he asked Fahey for some insights. Fahey offered the Admiral his diary entries. The offer was accepted, and finally after 15 years of being hid away, Fahey's diary was acknowledged once again.
When Morrison saw Fahey's diary he was astounded. He advised him to take his notes to Houghton Mifflin immediately. So Fahey did. And not too long after that, James Fahey was the proud author of the bestseller, *Pacific War Diary, 1942-1945.*
Fahey received many awards for his book. In November 1963, he received a resolution from the city of Waltham (Massachusetts).
In 1964, Fahey was recognized as the national "Garbage Man of the Year". He was also given the opportunity to meet President John F. Kennedy the previous year and give him a copy of his book. (A photo of Fahey with President Kennedy is at The Waltham Museum.) Fahey also gave his book to Presidents Johnson, Nixon, and Ford, as well as Robert Kennedy.
Although he received many awards, what distinguishes Fahey the most is what he did with his profits. He sent all his earnings to a priest, Fr. Michael, in India. Fr. Michael used the money to build a church. But, what was built in India was not a church. With all the money James sent, Fr. Michael was able to build a cathedral. The people of India, Fr. Michael included, were extremely grateful. Fr. Michael referred to James as "the man with the golden heart."
In 1991, James J. Fahey died of radiation poisoning. He was 73 years old. He was survived by his wife Adele.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
May 15, 2022
“It was a great feeling as I staggered up the gangway to the ship with my sea bag in one hand and the mattress cover loaded with blankets, mattresses, etc., over my shoulder. At last I have a home – and a warship at that.” ~James J. Fahey, 23 November 1942
December 5, 2018
I wish I had read this book back in the 1980s, when I was serving on a U.S. Navy destroyer; it would have added some perspective to our experiences. Life at sea has always been hard; the work is complex, difficult, and frequently dangerous. Holding station around an aircraft carrier that is constantly changing course and speed to follow the wind for takeoffs and landings is a nerve-wracking experience. They are so lit up you can’t see their running lights to make a target angle determination, and they frequently change course and only then remember to tell you. Sometimes they would turn directly into your path and you would not realize it until they were barreling down on you. The lives of three hundred men depended on the decisions of a twenty-three year old Officer of the Deck who, like everyone else onboard, was chronically sleep deprived, exhausted after the normal fourteen to sixteen hour work days at sea. The fact that there are not more collisions is a testament to the Navy’s rigorous training and endless drills.
What we did was often difficult and stressful, like watches in crowded waters, avoiding unlit fishing boats that didn’t paint on radar, helo ops in bad weather, and Underway Replenishment at night (the Navy liked to schedule them for 3:00 a.m. so as not to “interfere” with normal ship’s operations). And yet, for all that, James Fahey and his shipmates would have laughed at us and called us slackers, and, compared with what they went through, they would have been right.
Fahey served on a cruiser for three years in World War II, and wrote a vivid first person account of what it was like to experience the war as an ordinary seaman. In addition to the never ending work, port and starboard watches (twelve on/twelve off), and endless hours at general quarters, there was the constant fear of attack, never enough sleep, and having to sleep outside because the interior of the ship was so hot in the South Pacific that men got heat stroke down in the berthing compartments. And for all that, there was never enough to eat, and the food they did get was terrible: he mentions the bread was full of bugs, but you ate it anyway, bugs and all, because otherwise you didn't eat.
He was able to describe his life with great clarity and detail. There are moments of acute fear and danger, when they are under attack, and the constant stress of having to live with the idea that at any moment a torpedo could tear the bottom out of the ship. Even when in rear areas there was backbreaking work to do loading ammunition and maintaining the guns. In the end his ship, USS Montpelier (CL-57) only lost a handful of men during the war, evenly divided between enemy action and accidents. He sailed her back to the U.S. for decommissioning, left the Navy, and spent the rest of his working life as a garbage man. He wrote in secret because diaries were forbidden due to their potential to provide useful information if they fell into enemy hands. This is one of the great works of on the spot history, a vivid portrait of the lives of men at war, and is highly recommended for anyone with an interest in naval history.
What we did was often difficult and stressful, like watches in crowded waters, avoiding unlit fishing boats that didn’t paint on radar, helo ops in bad weather, and Underway Replenishment at night (the Navy liked to schedule them for 3:00 a.m. so as not to “interfere” with normal ship’s operations). And yet, for all that, James Fahey and his shipmates would have laughed at us and called us slackers, and, compared with what they went through, they would have been right.
Fahey served on a cruiser for three years in World War II, and wrote a vivid first person account of what it was like to experience the war as an ordinary seaman. In addition to the never ending work, port and starboard watches (twelve on/twelve off), and endless hours at general quarters, there was the constant fear of attack, never enough sleep, and having to sleep outside because the interior of the ship was so hot in the South Pacific that men got heat stroke down in the berthing compartments. And for all that, there was never enough to eat, and the food they did get was terrible: he mentions the bread was full of bugs, but you ate it anyway, bugs and all, because otherwise you didn't eat.
He was able to describe his life with great clarity and detail. There are moments of acute fear and danger, when they are under attack, and the constant stress of having to live with the idea that at any moment a torpedo could tear the bottom out of the ship. Even when in rear areas there was backbreaking work to do loading ammunition and maintaining the guns. In the end his ship, USS Montpelier (CL-57) only lost a handful of men during the war, evenly divided between enemy action and accidents. He sailed her back to the U.S. for decommissioning, left the Navy, and spent the rest of his working life as a garbage man. He wrote in secret because diaries were forbidden due to their potential to provide useful information if they fell into enemy hands. This is one of the great works of on the spot history, a vivid portrait of the lives of men at war, and is highly recommended for anyone with an interest in naval history.
January 19, 2019
Truly a most authoritative depiction of life as a US sailor in WWII. In spite of it being written as a diary, with most of the day-to-day mundane tasks included, it shows how difficult life was for sailors. It shows how they had to constantly endure boredom without the benefit of ever getting enough rest or food. It shows how they were under the stress of fearing for their lives (being in enemy waters for 95% of the 200,000 miles the ship sailed). It shows how they survived being away from their loved ones for such a long time. (Fahey spent about 4 years away from home in incredibly difficult circumstances.) I have to add that I enjoyed the story so much because it did give me a unique insight into my dad's life in the Navy during WWII, though on different ships. I'd say this should be read by anyone interested in finding out what US sailors had to endure in WWII. Brave men, each of them, and to whom we are all indebted.
January 23, 2023
It's a valuable piece of U.S. history because of its rarity. WWII servicemen were not allowed to take photos or keep a diary but he managed to do the latter and it was only by chance that he published it 18 years after the war. I am not a fan of memoirs or diaries. This was a tedious read for me because of the mundaneness of shipboard life but it was so authentic and unique that I was glad to have read it. He sounded like a chipper sort of fella not prone to whining of complaining. He was truly grateful for all the little pleasures in life and recognized how much more fortunate he was than the ground troops. I know from my other studies that he was also fortunate to not have been a part of a bomber crew. He made his living after the war as a garbage truck driver but he donated all of the proceeds from his only book, a bestseller, to a Catholic mission in India that was used to build a Cathedral. That was one of the most extraordinary acts of generosity I've ever heard of.
November 4, 2024
This is quite a remarkable story. I'm a big fan of personal narratives.
Keeping a diary on a warship during war is strictly verboten. Fahey did it anyway. Fahey was not a writer. He even tells us he wasn't a reporter, but I think he did a fairly good job of reporting his experiences. Fahey served on the USS Montpelier the entire time.
This story runs from the first campaign in the Pacific (Guadalcanal) to the landing of US troops on the islands of Japan. The Montpelier was a lucky ship. It saw extensive action but suffered very little damage. Fahey's life aboard, for the most part, was typical of sailors, soldiers, and marines: lack of sleep, bad food, exposure to the weather, and the boredom of routine, interrupted by the fear and terror of combat.
I was a bit surprised at how well-informed he was. Typically, authors of these wartime personal narratives can tell us only what they went through and have little idea of the larger picture.
Recommended.
Keeping a diary on a warship during war is strictly verboten. Fahey did it anyway. Fahey was not a writer. He even tells us he wasn't a reporter, but I think he did a fairly good job of reporting his experiences. Fahey served on the USS Montpelier the entire time.
This story runs from the first campaign in the Pacific (Guadalcanal) to the landing of US troops on the islands of Japan. The Montpelier was a lucky ship. It saw extensive action but suffered very little damage. Fahey's life aboard, for the most part, was typical of sailors, soldiers, and marines: lack of sleep, bad food, exposure to the weather, and the boredom of routine, interrupted by the fear and terror of combat.
I was a bit surprised at how well-informed he was. Typically, authors of these wartime personal narratives can tell us only what they went through and have little idea of the larger picture.
Recommended.
May 23, 2021
Nonfiction that reads as somewhat boring fiction, this war diary is equal parts action, ennui, and travelogue. As good as the amateur writing is, this book lacks universal appeal and a truly compelling narrative, but is otherwise fantastic. Anyone interested in naval history, eyewitness reports, the WWII Pacific Theatre, or 20th C Americana should absolutely buy this book, and love it as I have. A four star reading experience from a five star work.
April 10, 2024
Fantastic book. It's the diary of a Navy soldier for 3+ years during WWII. Even though a lot of it was about the day to day routine, it was so interesting and pure. Nothing was embellished and it was all through his eyes.
One entry that stuck out to me from Fahey about this war: The Japanese people are no different from the people in any other part of the world. The people all over the world are good. It's the leaders who are to blame.
One entry that stuck out to me from Fahey about this war: The Japanese people are no different from the people in any other part of the world. The people all over the world are good. It's the leaders who are to blame.
January 28, 2018
Very interesting perspective in the life in the Pacific Navy during WWII. I enjoyed what I read but it became essentially the same details / perspective on a daily basis. Not surprising as it is a diary and the author was on a ship for most of WWII so it would be expected that there was quite a bit of routine in his daily activities.
July 21, 2020
This was a recommendation from a navy buddy whose Dad was a destroyer guy in WW2. I'd worked with the destroyer guys and watched them keeping station in bad wx during a winter Atlantic crossing. And I'd read all of Morison's US Navy WW2. This book made it really personal. If you've read some of the larger histories, or maybe Winds of War, this would be a great follow up.
Currently reading
May 28, 2025I was tipped of to this book during my genealogy research and I'm glad that I was. My great-uncle, Henry Mostiller, is mentioned in this book, giving my family a brief insight on not only his death but possibly what his service and sacrifice for his country was like for him. I've shared this book among my family as well.
May 26, 2021
Fascinating day-by-day details by a common sailor aboard a United States cruiser. Amazing lack of good, sleep, and comfort.
May 25, 2016
It is remarkable the severity of conditions US Navy sailors faced in WW II in the Pacific Theater. The inescapable sauna level heat and humidity in ships without AC, the constant sleeplessness due to a schedule of watch four hours on eight off mixing with long periods of general quarters and endless work details when off watch, the existential dread of being sunk and attendant fear of sharks and of torture and execution if captured, the hammering noise of being close to cannon barrels as they fired.
This book is a first hand account by a crewman on the USS Montpelier, a light cruiser. It is especially interesting as journals were not allowed to be kept. The author wrote throughout his years in the Pacific and kept it hidden.
This book is a first hand account by a crewman on the USS Montpelier, a light cruiser. It is especially interesting as journals were not allowed to be kept. The author wrote throughout his years in the Pacific and kept it hidden.
August 13, 2010
I feel horrible for not being able to finish this book. I might pick it up again once I'm through my own giant stack. I got it at the library and had to return it.
I couldn't finish it. I made it to page 95 and couldn't read anymore. Although its a readible account it was repetative and a bit on the boring side.
But the author did a good job of making things not too repetitive, especially since most of the time on the ship was spent doing the same thing.
I couldn't finish it. I made it to page 95 and couldn't read anymore. Although its a readible account it was repetative and a bit on the boring side.
But the author did a good job of making things not too repetitive, especially since most of the time on the ship was spent doing the same thing.
March 1, 2015
This was just a good book. The author kept this diary secretly while serving on the cruiser Montpelier in the pacific in WWII; this is the reality of war...days of loading supplies and ammo and standing watch and then hours of intense fighting. I cannot imagine living under the conditions on board this ship - very little to eat, living and working in the HOT sun, having almost no sleep...and yet taking on the Japanese Navy and winning. Great men, our veterans...true heroes.
July 9, 2016
Interesting read, most of it the rather dull memoirs of a sailor without much knowledge of the greater scheme of things, interspersed with some great descriptions of life in the Pacific and in the armed forces in the early 40's. It's also interesting to note the progression from passages with incredible detail of the battles going on gradually fading into vague descriptions of attacks as the author becomes more accustomed to battle on a daily basis.
June 15, 2015
It took me forever to get through, but that's a reflection on my reading style, not the book itself. This is an incredibly unique look at military history. It's "real time" war from someone experiencing it without the benefit of hindsight. Definitely recommend to anyone looking to better understand military life and the war in the Pacific.
August 4, 2007
Engrossing readable account of the war in the Pacific from the perspective of a young man drafted into the Navy.
December 13, 2011
Outstanding first person account of James J. Fahey's wartime experience as a seaman on the U.S.S Montpelier, a light cruiser in the Pacific in WWII.
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September 7, 2012A good book but for some reason hard read. Took forever but alot of good insight on the pacific theater of WWIi.
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January 20, 2013Started book back in high school early eighties. Book was in poor shape. Reordered book in 2010 plan and determine to finish this book.
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October 16, 2014This was a really good book! :D The title listed here is all wrong, though. It should be Pacific War Diary 1942 - 1945.
May 27, 2016
A very interesting, true account of an average sailor's experience at sea and in battles during WW11. I really enjoyed it.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews