Tribune: "Five carriers, two cruisers sunk off Gilbert Islands.... Battleships left ablaze ... three encounters reported." The Japanese only lost "one plane." It's their way of softening bad news: "Contact has been lost with the garrisons defending Tarawa and Makin."

Met some people out from Santo Tomas attending a funeral. Shook the hand of a very thin Alex McLeod for the first time since 1941. I was shocked to hear that William Penn was buried yesterday — he still has some stocks with us and I know he has children in the States. Dr. Wright, whose "Dental Clinic and X-rays" sign still stands in front of his house in Taft Avenue, also looked very thin and ill. I wondered about conditions in Santo Tomas. Joe Connor too is ill with high blood pressure.