Advertisement
Published: March 6th 2009
Pearl Harbor
Arizona MemorialOur bus was to picked us up at 7:45 so we were all up to eat at 6:45. We headed for Pearl Harbor.
As Marty states in her memorable T-blog on our experiences of the day at
http://www.travelblog.org/fred.php?id=375922
Susan warned us that we had to leave behind any bags.
Free at last! The Kona nightgale sings!
Many of our group are veterans. Some served in the U S Navy and they seemed particularly moved to be taking this tour. It seemed like the focus of their whole three weeks. I hoped it would help them. Vets carry a lot more pain inside than the rest of us realize.
We took our turn watching the video at the center. Since the Arizona Memorial is not very big, the center manages the numbers by having a theater with seating that matches the seating on the boat which ferries each group out and back. There are three such groups at the Memorial at any one time. One was getting ready to return to the center, the second was spending time in the memorial, and the third was just coming off the ferry.
I didn't sense any of
USS Arizona
Part of its superstructure is right there. our group felt the need to stay longer than the forty minutes we had at the Memorial. But they bore their sense of the meaning of the place in a quiet and subdued manner.
The weather again was ideal, sunny, not hot, and breezy. I do not think I could manage the experience if it were dreary.
The submarine USS Bowfin had a fascinating history as shown in its museum. Being on board was not as confining as I had imagined. Did you know submarines of that class spent most of their time on the surface? They were good to be underwater for little more than 4 hours at a time. Fresh air is the premium. The most modern subs can stay under much much longer but they still have to come for air exchange.
I noticed an odd thing out in the harbor. A docent said that Pearl Harbor is still a functioning naval facility. The odd craft I pointed out is a radar system built onto a sea-worthy oil rig that had come down from Alaska for repairs.
Lunch was not alone. Doves and sparrows were with us. No chickens, though. I think we
Memorial gallery
Names of those entombed below left them on Kaua'i.
We found our bus at the end of the furthest parking lot possible for Pearl Harbor.
No, it was not next to the "Rust Bowl," the stadium where the NFL will hold its annual Pro Bowl in about ten days. By the way, that stadium was state-of-the-art not that many years ago. However, sections of it no longer can move as they did before. The rust color is actually its paint.
Let me segue to a very different "bowl."
Punch Bowl is the name of the crater which holds the National Cemetery of the Pacific. There rest many Pacific theater casualties from World War II. It still is accepting veterans and some family members.
The Columbia statue is impressive as is the building around it. As Marty points out, the exposed walls of the open building are covered with mosaics showing many of the actions of the war against Japan.
I found the chapel to be especially appropriate.
The cemetery includes the graves of Ernie Pyle, war correspondent who reported from the fox holes of GIs, and Ellison Onizuka, the first Hawai'ian in space killed when Challenger blew up.
Our turn ends
Deep memories It was an honor to be that close to them.
Our ride back from this day of remembering was quiet. As Marty noted, our supper was especially good. Susan took only a little time to talk about the next day's activities before we all headed for our rooms.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.076s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 5; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0417s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Marty
non-member comment
A surprise
The surprise for me was to see that the Memorial (the white curved looking structure) was exactly on top of the actual sunken USS Arizona. When we got out to it I was also surprised that we could actually see parts of the ship both above and below the water. What a great way to memorialize the men who died and are entombed there! I was impressed.