In 2 days I'll begin posting the 1945 journal entries. I'm taking a one day break first.I intend to reproduce the journal exactly as Joe wrote it, only changing his spellings or adding punctuation where Joe's usage might cause confusion. All my additions will be in brackets. Joe's words will be in black. Anything added to the page by me will be in blue.
Joe only used apostrophes for "not" contractions. In an effort to keep the entries cleaner, I won't add them elsewhere. His meanings are usually obvious--just remember that the word "were" should often be read "we're." Also, Joe frequently forgot periods. To show where one sentence ends and another begins, I'll add an underline in a lighter color.
In places where damage to the book, spelling, or handwriting made words difficult to decipher, my guesses will be in brackets, or I'll insert a question mark in brackets where I don't feel comfortable hazarding even a guess. An ellipsis (three dots ...) will indicate where the page is ripped and words are missing.
Because it drives me nuts when I have figure out all the naval terms and abbreviations in books like TALES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC, I'm going to put notes below each entry where necessary, for readers like myself who are clueless in such matters.
Lastly, I'll add footnotes in an attempt to clarify some of my uncle's references. Wherever I could find the information, if he gave a ship's number, I'll list the name. If he mentions damage, casualties, or the sinking of a certain ship, I tried to find more of the story, mainly to give you a better idea of what Joe witnessed, but also to honor those lives lost by passing on a tale they were never able to tell themselves.
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