Karma, as in weird

Rico says he always checks out people who've previously bought books he's purchased (when they've written their names in it, a practice he does not commit), and a book by Sydney Clark about Hawai'i that he recently bought for his stepmother (who grew up there) is no exception.
It was purchased at Pearl Harbor on 28 January 1943 by Lieutenant Commander Joseph C. Hatch, USNR.
A Google search for the guy turned up just an obit. Not surprising, given his job and the era, but the death date surely was: 6 May 1943...
He enjoyed the book for barely ninety days, it seems. Rico says he'll pass it along in his memory.