David Franklin “Frank” Milam (1918-2000) was born on January 9, 1918 in Charleston, West Virginia. He married Zelda Bias in September of 1937.
When the United States entered the war, Frank Milam was married with two preschool-aged children. Since drafting was almost inevitable, he signed up in order to choose his preferred branch, the Navy. After the war, Frank farmed, and later worked for over 20 years for the Monsanto company in Nitro, WV, as an electrician. Frank and Zelda had six children together, five surviving to adulthood. Like many veterans of World War II, Frank rarely talked about his time on the Yorktown. After his death on June 25, 2000, he was buried in Cunningham Memorial Park, in Saint Albans, WV. His remaining family lives in West Virginia, Kentucky, and scattered through the U.S.
The Milam family has given permission for open viewing of the diary, but these images are not in the public domain. For Milam family permission to use images from the Milam diary, contact georgia111 at twc dot com.
The diary of Frank Milam, who served aboard the fourth USS Yorktown, was written from late 1944-1945. He served as an electrician’s mate, rated as an EM3. Since American soldiers and sailors were prohibited from keeping personal diaries during World War II, the entries were written into a small government-issued notebook. The diary is handwritten, and key names and terms have been OCR'd, but it has not been fully transcribed.
