Diary (Sept. 1943-Dec. 1944) of Joseph John Valinsky, a sailor aboard the USS Monterey, kept during World War II duty in the Pacific, along with correspondence, certificates, and military service identification cards.
Joseph John Valinsky was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 26, 1922. Trained as a metalsmith, Valinsky joined the United States Navy on September 29, 1942, as an Aviation Metalsmith. He served aboard the USS Monterey from September 20, 1943, to December 29, 1944, seeing heavy action throughout the South Pacific. He ended his service with a position at the Naval Training School in Norman, Oklahoma, and was honorably discharged on October 7, 1945. He joined the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1949 and was discharged in 1954, maintaining his rank as an Aviation Metalsmith First Class.
Joseph J. Valinksy served aboard the USS Monterey as an Aviation Metalsmith First Class from September 20, 1943, to December 29, 1944. Against Naval protocols, Valinsky kept a journal of his time aboard from leaving port in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to the South Pacific via the Panama Canal. He kept a nearly daily log of activities aboard the ship, of both day to day duties and accounts of attacks. It ends December 29, 1944, when Valinsky returned stateside. Valinksy, serving on the USS Monterey was part of the naval forces in several battles in the Pacific Theatre: Marshall Islands, Palau Island, Marianas, Taiwan, and Saipan. In addition to providing naval support to ground troops during landings, the USS Monterey was also involved in skirmishes with Japanese forces on both sea and air.
In addition to the 100-page journal, the collection also includes his honorable discharge certificates from 1945 and 1954, correspondence from the Veteran's Administration and Secretary of the Navy dated 1945-1946, and various wallet-sized military id service cards from 1942 to 1946. Of special note is a letter dated June 17, 1945, from Bud Knight giving the USS Monterey's strike report and battle history as the ship left the Pacific to make port for repairs.
Gift of U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
Encoded by Apex Data Services
Processing completed April 2016 by Samantha Sheffield
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.