This diary, kept on a daily basis by Lt. Charles C. Winnia, USMC, who served as an F4U pilot for VMF-213 on Guadalcanal in 1943, first appeared on the USMC History discussion list associated with this website, one entry per day, over a period of several months. It was posted by Mr. C.S. Richardson, who has annotated the diary for its appearance here, and who, along with Mr Dan McAnarney, has researched the historical background of this diary over a period of several years. I am grateful to both of them for permitting its appearance on this site, and I am certain it will be read with sympathetic interest by many.

Mr Richardson has maintained the format of the diary. He has corrected simple spelling errors, but has left the lieutenant's phrasing and punctuation intact.

An account of how the diary was discovered after being lost for many years, and how it came into the possession of Mr Richardson, can be found in the epilogue to this diary.

Photographs used to illustrate to the diary are credited where the source is known. The color illustrations of F4U Corsairs are all taken from WWII-era advertisments by the following companies: Good Year, Pesco, Mobilgas, Nash Kelvinator & United Aircraft.

the "Skipper"