Fallen WWII soldier's diary found decades later

A page of photographs from a diary by 22-year-old Marine Cpl. Thomas "Cotton" Jones, who died in the bloody assault on a Japanese-held island during World War II. The diary includes his writings as well as photos of himself and his high school sweetheart, Laura Mae Davis.

Before Jones died, he wrote what he called his "last life request" to anyone who might find his diary: "Please give it to Laura Mae Davis, the girl he loved."

Laura Mae Davis Burlingame, she married an Army Air Corps man in 1945, had given the diary to Jones, and didn't know it had survived him until visiting the museum on April 24, 2013.

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Laura Mae Davis Burlingame, 90, holds a photo of herself from high school, in her Moorseville, Ind. home, May 23, 2013. The photo filled the back cover of the diary she had given to Marine Cpl. Thomas "Cotton" Jones. Burlingame didn't know the military diary she gave Jones had survived him.

The first entry from the diary of 22-year-old Marine Cpl. Thomas "Cotton" Jones, who died in the bloody assault on a Japanese-held island during World War II.

A page of out of Jones' diary featuring a photo of his high school sweetheart, Laura Mae Davis Burlingame, is on display at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. Behind is a Marine uniform like one Jones would have worn.

Pages from the diary by 22-year-old Marine Cpl. Thomas "Cotton" Jones.

A photo of 22-year-old Marine Cpl. Thomas "Cotton" Jones.

The diary, letters and photos of 22-year-old Marine Cpl. Thomas "Cotton" Jones, who died in the bloody assault on a Japanese-held island during World War II, are on display at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans.

A telegram notifying the parents of 22-year-old Marine Cpl. Thomas "Cotton" Jones of the death of their son.

Pages from the diary by 22-year-old Marine Cpl. Thomas "Cotton" Jones.

A page of out of the diary of 22-year-old Marine Cpl. Thomas Jones featuring a photo of his high school sweetheart, Laura Mae Davis Burlingame, is on display at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans.

Pages from the diary by 22-year-old Marine Cpl. Thomas "Cotton" Jones.

Laura Mae Davis Burlingame, 90, displays a copy of the first pages of the diary of Marine Cpl. Thomas "Cotton" Jones, her high school sweetheart, at her Moorseville, Ind. home, May 23, 2013.

Burlingame had given the military diary to Jones, a 22-year-old machine gunner, but didn't know that it had survived him.

Pages from the diary by 22-year-old Marine Cpl. Thomas "?Cotton?" Jones, including a portrait of his high school sweetheart, Laura Mae Davis, at right. Before Jones died, he wrote what he called his ?"last life request?" to anyone who might find his diary: "Please give it to Laura Mae Davis, the girl he loved."