Here's how it all went down: We flew to Oahu on Tuesday, Nov. 4. We got in around 4pm and drove to our hotel in the Waikiki area, took a swim in the ocean, and walked down the main drag looking for food. We weren't exactly impressed with the area or Honolulu in general. The next afternoon, we went to Pearl Harbor and toured the sites there. After Pearl Harbor and the USS Missouri, we got on a plane and flew over to Maui. More on that to come later (I'm so tired I don't know how I'm still awake at 8:45pm tonight).
Pearl Harbor was cool. I've seen
Tora! Tora! Tora! and
Pearl Harbor, and also discussed the battle in a geospatial intelligence class I took in college. I know the history fairly well, so it was really interesting to be there in person. The first thing we noticed was that the National Park Service was
hosting a groundbreaking for a new, expanded museum on the site. We just kinda stumbled into the ceremony and food afterward. One great thing about that was there were 4 Pearl Harbor survivors in attendance and they were mignling with the crowds. Oh, the food was good, too.
After the ceremony, we watched the video they show and got on the ferry to head over to the floating memorial over the USS Arizona. I've seen it so many times in movies, news, books, etc., and this was my chance to finally see it in person. The memorial sits perpendicular to the sunken ship and the scale of these battleships isn't something I'd grasped until I was there. They were/are enormous! I saw the ship just below the surface (and parts protruding just above the surface) and also saw a number of places where the oil continues to leak from the wreckage. It is a very plain and simple memorial, but quite a sight to see.
After touring that memorial, we took a shuttle over to the
USS Missouri, a floating museum now docked just west of the USS Arizona remains. The USS Missouri is where the Japanese surrendered WWII and it's also a battleship that was used as recently as the 1st Gulf War. We spent nearly 2 hours wandering through the ship and saw a lot of the history that fella had created. FYI, those bunk beds were actually long enough that I'd fit lengthwise, but they were awfully close. I imagine any sailors had to overcome their claustrophobia pretty quickly.
Pearl Harbor was cool. I've seen Tora! Tora! Tora! and Pearl Harbor, and also discussed the battle in a geospatial intelligence class I took in college. I know the history fairly well, so it was really interesting to be there in person. The first thing we noticed was that the National Park Service was hosting a groundbreaking for a new, expanded museum on the site. We just kinda stumbled into the ceremony and food afterward. One great thing about that was there were 4 Pearl Harbor survivors in attendance and they were mignling with the crowds. Oh, the food was good, too.
After the ceremony, we watched the video they show and got on the ferry to head over to the floating memorial over the USS Arizona. I've seen it so many times in movies, news, books, etc., and this was my chance to finally see it in person. The memorial sits perpendicular to the sunken ship and the scale of these battleships isn't something I'd grasped until I was there. They were/are enormous! I saw the ship just below the surface (and parts protruding just above the surface) and also saw a number of places where the oil continues to leak from the wreckage. It is a very plain and simple memorial, but quite a sight to see.
After touring that memorial, we took a shuttle over to the USS Missouri, a floating museum now docked just west of the USS Arizona remains. The USS Missouri is where the Japanese surrendered WWII and it's also a battleship that was used as recently as the 1st Gulf War. We spent nearly 2 hours wandering through the ship and saw a lot of the history that fella had created. FYI, those bunk beds were actually long enough that I'd fit lengthwise, but they were awfully close. I imagine any sailors had to overcome their claustrophobia pretty quickly.
1 comment:
My grandma was born on Pearl Harbor day! You're looking pretty squished in that tiny bunk!
Post a Comment