Paying Homage

Monday found us headed to Pearl Harbor. Having not rented a car, we got the chance to ride public buses to the site. By the way, the bus system is aptly named "The Bus" so after a few phone calls in the morning, we found the closest bus stop and headed out. It took only about 45 minutes to get to the harbor and then we walked down a long hill to the ticket office.

When we arrived, we were told to place our bags in storage for security reasons and that we were only allowed to take a camera, wallet and cell phone so Autumn and I divided accordingly so we were carrying the correct amount of stuff.

Then we bought out tickets and got on another bus. we were then taken out to the memorials.

With an 85-year-old father who served in WWII, I am very aware of the events leading up to fighting with Japan.

Although my father never saw action in the Pacific, he did his part as a member of the of the US Coast Guard as he patrolled beaches in North Carolina looking for enemy submarines or any enemy who might try to enter the US via beaches. He also did his time on patrols aboard an LST and did bow lookout duties.

He has told stories of when he and his shipmates steamed into San Francisco Bay and the hills surrounding the bay literally opened up and huge guns poked their muzzles out. He also described seeing warships arrive for repair in Oakland that had Japanese fighter planes sticking out of their hulls.

So for me, to visit Pearl Harbor, is a very honorable thing. Not only do I honor the memory of those who died as their ships sank on that fateful morning but I also honor the memory of those individuals like my father and uncles who fought for all of us so that we enjoy all of the freedoms that we have today.

 Our first stop...the USS Missouri, a battleship was launched in January, 1944. It is one of four Iowa class battleships. She saw service at the end of WWII and was the sight of the signing of the "Instrument of Surrender" in Tokyo ending WWII.

 But the service didn't end there. She remained in service for training purposes and then in June of 1950, she was sent to North Korea where she served for three years. Then she was decommissioned in 1955.

Thirty years later, the Missouri was recommissioned and saw duty in Operation Earnest Will, escorting oil tankers in the North Arabian Sea.  She also saw action in Operation Desert Storm. She was decommissioned in 1992. In 1998,she entered Pearl Harbor and forever floats as a guardian to the harbor.

The Missouri not only guards the harbor but also presides over the ships sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Her hull sits over the last resting place of the USS Oklahoma and her bow faces two other ships lost as well as the USS Arizona memorial.

On December 7, 1941, the USS Arizona was sunk by Japanese bombers during an eraly morning attack. I addition, 20 other ships were either sunk or damaged.

As the bombs hit, the 500 powder kegs aboard the Arizona ignited and the ship sank in about nine minutes. More than 1100 men who were on board at the time, died. Only 225 bodies were recovered and the rest remain on board.

The shallow waters of the harbor reveal the Arizona's wreckage and oil still bubbles up.

Oil bubbling up.

After spending several minutes on the memorial, we were taken back to shore.

I would like to add a side note.  We rode a public bus to the memorial and as everyone knows, I have a very bad back problem. After all of the walking, I was exhausted and in a lot of pain. I asked the rangers on duty if they could arrange a ride for me to go up the hill to the bus stop. They did and I thank them .

When we arrived back in Waikiki, we overshot our bus stop and ended up a few blocks away from our hotel. I was exhausted so I went to the nearest hotel and they called a cab for us. finally we got back, had dinner and crashed from exhaustion.