Buford Patterson diary

As Buford Patterson was already deceased by the time his diary was loaned to UNCC, most of what we know about him exists in the form of the diary’s internal evidence, archival service records, and from an interview of his cousin, Parker Whedon. According to his diary, Buford was born on January 2, 1917, in Charlotte, NC. He also had six siblings: Patti, Edgar, Charles, Martha and Helen; and he seems to have been a member of a Protestant Christian denomination, since he mentioned in his diary that he “took first communion in 3 ½ years.” He attended Elizabeth Grade School, Piedmont Junior High School and Central High School. According to Hill’s Charlotte City Directory in 1937, he worked for the Tate-Brown Company of Charlotte, N.C. (where his father was vice president), as a salesman, and he lived with his parents at 419 Clement Ave. Apparently, neither Buford Patterson, Junior, nor his father, liked their original first names (Horace), because they are both listed in the directory under H. Buford Patterson. He later attended Davidson College for two years, but financial limitations prevented him from finishing his education there. In 1941 he joined the military with the hopes of acquiring the financial means to finish his degree. According to archival service records, Patterson was a second lieutenant in the Army Air Corps, receiving his commission as a second lieutenant at Hunter Field in Savannah, Georgia, in 1941. What else we know of Patterson can be deduced by reading his diary, and also by carefully “reading between the lines.” He and his detachment sailed from California on November 1, 1941, arriving at Honolulu on November 6. They continued on to the Philippines, arriving at Manila on Thanksgiving Day, November 20. He did not write an entry for December 7, 1941, and first wrote about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor two days later. Soon, he and his detachment marched across the Philippines in order to confront the Japanese in a futile attempt to defend the islands against overwhelming numbers. Patterson wrote a few brief passages about his capture and the infamous Bataan Death March across the Philippines, where he and his comrades (those who survived) were later transported to the Japanese mainland. He and other prisoners spent the duration of the war at a number of different camps in Japan. After returning to the U.S., he attempted to pursue a career in art, taking lessons and classes in New York City. Tragically, he never recovered from his experiences as a POW and became addicted to alcohol. He returned to Charlotte to live with his parents and performed menial work for the rest of his life. He died on July 19, 1979.