Very nice weather. Plenty of transfers in but no SM. Can’t make up my mind whether I would want a transfer or not. Recieved mail also word that mother is feeling better and that is the best news I could get. Also recieved a letter from Dorothy! Boy! What a gal. I’m one of the luckiest guys in the world to have a girl like her.
September 1942 — June 1945
The diary
389 entries in the order Elmer lived them. The first eleven are dated months apart and cover nearly two years of training and island duty; from the day he came aboard The Sullivans he wrote every day. Chapter headings, eleven in all, mark the way, and a map alongside keeps track of where he was as you read or listen. Search for a person, place, ship, or phrase, or simply begin at the beginning.
Every entry can also be listened to. The readings are computer-generated, about 69 minutes in all. The voice is not Elmer’s.
January 1945
* Dates read as Elmer wrote them. An asterisk marks a date that is approximate, or that the diary records differently from the day it actually was; hover or focus it for the correction. Underlined terms link to the glossary. Chapter headings, notes marked “From the records”, and the map’s account of where he was are editorial.
After the last entry
What the papers say next
The diary ends on June 18, 1945, with the ship under orders home. The Navy’s paperwork and the family’s papers carry the story from there.
The Sullivans reached San Francisco on July 9, 1945. On July 15 he was advanced to signalman first class, and on July 23 he married Dorothy, the girl he wrote to, in Olympia. He left the ship on October 10, and on October 26, back in Shelton, he registered with the local draft board, “unemployed – just discharged,” and signed the card. The records →
