What's it worth? Appraisal of WWII US Marine Diary for Guadalcanal Theater

Van asks:

This item is a Marine diary, a first-hand account of the first military offensive of World War II, at Guadalcanal in the Pacific. The author was my father, Master Sgt. Lloyd D. Fuller, who was ordnance officer for Congressional Medal of Honor Winner Captain Joe Foss, the most celebrated fighter pilot of the war.

A diary from Guadalcanal has been described as “rare as hen’s teeth” by a Marine historian who has heard of it. It contains details of the offensive which (as far as I know) are not known to history, such as the fact that two of Foss’s fighter planes were named for my mother.

This is a unique item containing a day-to-day account of the offensive from pre-launch days in August 1942 through December 31st of 1942. Every day of that period—including the first anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack—is described, and many names are mentioned. The diary resumes in 1943, with entries becoming fewer around midsummer. The ugly fates of many Marines are detailed; and I do not doubt that the families of these Marines (if they could ever be found) would value such information.

My father recently passed away, and of course we requested a Marine presence at the funeral. When the Marines became aware of the existence of the diary, they expressed a great interest in adding it to their Quantico archives for analysis by historians. I have been corresponding with an officer from Quantico who recommends that I have the diary appraised for tax purposes prior to donating it, but as a government body the Marines are legally forbidden to become involved in that process.

Obviously such an item cannot be evaluated in the same way as a sword or a flag, since its value lies not in its existence but in the information it contains. I truly believe that the diary offers new material and insights that will be of value to the Marines in reconstructing this crucial moment in their history.

Van

AW says: Thanks so much for the opportunity to appraise this historical account of the WWII Guadalacanal theater, it’s an honor to be able to appraise something like this.

You are correct in thinking that such an item is not one that would be subjected to a “cut and dry” appraisal process. Let’s look at what we have here as it should relate to market value for such an item.

First, WWII is the most romantic war in US history. It bonded the country with a feeling of common sacrifice and friendship. For these and many other reasons, WWII items are highly collectible, even moreso than WWI items.

We also must take into consideration the scarcity of this item. While I’m sure that it’s not unique in that it’s the only such Marine diary from this Theater, it may well be one of the only ones available to the public, as you are so generous to donate it.

Another important factor, is that your father was the ordnance officer for Captain Joe Foss. To those that may not know, an ordnance officer is directly responsible for the for ensuring that weapons systems, vehicles, and equipment are ready and available, in perfect working order, at all times.

Could there be a more important job in battle? I don’t think so.

All of this of course means that we have something historic, interesting, self authenticating and very important. Placed against other historic military diaries, this certainly ranks very high.

That all said, if one were to sell this, which you are not, the best market to place it in, would be an auction which has advertised it well to parties interested in such an item. Understand that such placement could result in a much higher dollar amount gained than what I quote here. 

In my opinion, the value range for this item is $5000-$7000.

Thank you for being so generous as to donate this important book to the Quantico archives where ultimately, all can benefit from it’s content.