The World War II diaries of Alfred Marion Chard provide a "You Are There" experience of survival during the battles with Japanese forces in the Pacific.



The day-to-day accounts of life on the mighty battleship, the USS Washington, were kept hidden because it was illegal to maintain such records out of fear they could fall into the hands of the country's enemies and be used for propaganda purposes.



The diaries relate both harrowing events where the author could easily have lost his life (much to the consternation of his subsequent offspring) to boring, hours-long vigils looking for Japanese planes, ships, mines, torpedoes, and submarines.