Super important day today one of the highlights of our trip to Hawaii. We are going to Pearl Harbor to pay our respects to the men, women and families who lost their lives and loved ones on December 7, 1941.
They give tickets away each morning to go and tour the Arizona when the visitor center opens at 7:00 am. We decided we are 30 minutes away and we will not be on the H1 for hardly anytime at all so we decide to leave at 6:00am. That will give us plenty of time to get there, right?!?!? No not at all our early rise and departure was met with more bumper to bumper traffic even on the side streets. We arrived at the memorial at 7:25. We hurried to the visitors center and we were in luck. There were 4 seats left on the 7:45 shuttle. We got our tickets then went over to purchase the Audio Tour (I highly recommend) really enjoyed listening to the story being told by Jamie Lee Curtis, Pearl Harbor Survivors and National Park Service Historians.
Pearl Harbor
After completing the very informative movie that brought us all up to speed as to why the attack occurred and how the attack occurred on Pearl Harbor it definitely brought you to feel so much respect and admiration for what these people gave and for what the people who have survived have done to assure that we never forget the fallen that lost their lives that day on a beautiful sunny Hawaiian day. The Japanese attacks began at 7:55 am, this launched one of the deadliest attacks in American history. The assault, which lasted less than two hours, claimed the lives of more than 2,400 people, wounded 1,000 more and damaged or destroyed nearly 20 American ships and more than 300 airplanes. Almost half of the casualties at Pearl Harbor occurred on the naval battleship USS Arizona, which was hit four times by Japanese bombers. President Franklin D. Roosevelt described it as "A date which will live in infamy"
Not sure what ship this is but it was in Pearl Harbor the day we visited. I have been told it is a sub-tender. Not sure though.
Tree of life represents the inter-connectedness of all life on earth. ( while this is kinda pretty, I really don't get it, It definitely does not look like a tree)
Pictures of the park
The driver of our ferry
Picture of unknown boat again
The national memorial was by Honolulu architect Alfred Preis. The United States Navy specified that the memorial be in the form of a bridge floating above the ship and accommodating 200 people.
The structure is 184-feet-long and has two peaks at each end connected by a sag in the center of the structure. It represents the height of American pride before the war, the sudden depression of a nation after the attack and the rise of American power to the new heights after the war.
There are three main parts to the national memorial: entry, assembly room, and shrine. The central assembly room features seven large open windows on either wall and ceiling, to commemorate the date of the attack. The total number of windows is 21. Rumor says this symbolically represents a 21-gun salute or 21 Marines standing at eternal parade rest over the tomb of the fallen,
We are now entering the USS Arizona memorial. Chills go up your spine knowing you are now standing above the resting place of 1102 of the 1177 sailors and Marines killed on the USS Arizona during the surprise attack of the Japanese.
Gun Turret #3
"Big Mo" in the distance. Her motto "Strength for Freedom"
The Big MO in all her glory. Commission June 11, 1944. In her span of commissioned time earned 11 battle stars for her service in World War II, Korean War, and the Persian Gulf. Her final decommision date was March 31, 1992. In 1998 she was donated to the USS Missouri Memorial Association and became a museum ship at Pearl Harbor
Every day approximately a quart of oil bubbles up to the surface from inside the battleship, which had been refueled shortly before being sunk. It is referred to as black tears
"Black Tears"
Little Extra Tid-bit
Elvis Presley, who had recently finished a two-year stint in the U.S. Army, performed a benefit concert at Pearl Harbor's Block Arena that raised over $50,000 - more than 10 percent of the USS Arizona Memorial's final cost.
Still do not know the name of this boat! but it was huge and I must have been pretty fascinated with it because I took numerous pictures with it.
We had the great honor and privilege of meeting a survivor of the attack of Pearl Harbor. His name is Herb Weatherwax he is 99 years old. He grew up 4 miles from the harbor. He is one of six remaining survivors.
USS Bowfin - submarine and WWII museum at Pearl Harbor
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