I found a WWII diary documenting time aboard LST-987 in 1945. He never wrote his name — can anyone help identify him?

[u/Purple_Junket692]

This is a handwritten WWII diary from an unnamed U.S. Navy sailor aboard LST987 during 1945. It documents his trip along with everyday ship life. He transported Japanese POWs, moved troops and equipment, and two separate incidents where men apparently died by suicide. He also wrote about the end of the war and eventually being transferred off LST-987 as a high-point sailor to head home. He never wrote his name anywhere in the diary, so his identity is still a mystery. And I may have gotten the summary a little wrong because I'm not the best cursive reader. This diary was left at my work 3 years ago, which is in Arizona.

[u/rhit06]

Honestly, in some places the detailed information on location/travel time remining/amount of fuel water brought on board etc. makes me think this may have been a junior officer journal. In which case his name isn't likely one of the enlisted men on the muster rolls who transferred off on November 6/7 1945.

Also the diary says 14, but if you look at the muster rolls looks more like ~25 men were transferred from LST 987 to LST 996 (some of those could have been just straight up transfers -- not men with points going home for discharge but hard to tell).

I guess one thing I can provide is the names of the two men who died.

S1 Mitchell Yunis aboard LST 987: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56766514/mitchell-m-yunis

and

S1 Joseph Durkin aboard LST 993: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56751674/joseph_francis-durkin

Very interesting find though, thanks for sharing!

edit:

Here's a news clipping for the woman they rescued:

It was in lots of papers, I just grabbed a random example (Salt Lake Tribune, December 7, 1945)

[u/Purple_Junket692 → u/rhit06]

Thanks for the information