Diary from World War II battle cruiser Mobile basis for new book        

[SEP. 21, 2005]  CHESAPEAKE, Va. -- Edward J. Buckalew is a retired Navy veteran now, with more than 25 years of service. But in his youth, he was the World War II sailor who kept the log for the battle cruiser U.S.S. Mobile, which fought its way across the Pacific from its commissioning at Newport News, Va., in 1943 through its arrival at Nagasaki, Japan, shortly after an atom bomb was dropped on that city and Japan surrendered. Buckalew's Diary of a Cruiser Sailor in World War II, written from his World War II notes recorded aboard the Mobile, was recently published.

With a complement of 1,266 personnel, armed with 12 six-inch guns, 12 five-inch guns and 28 40 mm. cannon, the Mobile was a formidable fighting machine.

Buckalew, a native of Wilmington, Del., joined the U.S. Navy in August 1942. After completion of boot camp, he was assigned to the newly commissioned Mobile at Newport News, sailing with her through the Panama Canal into the Pacific Theater.

The World War II combat record of the Mobile from that point on is an important part of U.S. history. From Pearl Harbor, she participated in the Marcus Island raid, the Gilberts campaign, Bougainville, Espiritu Santo and Tarawa, Kwajalein, Eniwetok, Rabaul, Truk, Saipan and Tinian. After participating in the battle of the Philippine Sea, the U.S.S. Mobile participated in the bombardment of Chichi Jima, where young aviator George H.W. Bush, later to be a U.S. president, was shot down. From there, she served in the invasion of Leyte in the Philippines, serving in the Philippines to the end of the war.

Buckalew's book speaks from the heart of a young sailor trained to be a helmsman and maintain the ship's log. He dutifully recorded the details of daily operations. He was able to keep his own diary updated daily from information he gathered from his recording of the ship's log. He served on the Mobile through her service ferrying POWs between Okinawa and the Japanese mainland.

Buckalew remained in the Navy through the Korean and Vietnam conflicts.