Hawaii - Pearl Harbor

Okay, so we do have time for one more non-Tennessee post. We went to Pearl Harbor today and wanted to blog about it.

I’ll start by saying that Pearl Harbor took all day – in vacation terms that is. We left the hotel at 9:30 and got back around 5:30. We thought it would only take a few hours and we would be on the beach again this afternoon, but there is much more there than we anticipated.

They have three paid attractions – U.S.S. Bowfin (submarine), U.S.S. Missouri (Battleship), and the Pacific Aviation Museum. In addition to these three, they also give out tickets (free) to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial. By the time we arrived there, we received tickets for one of the last group of tickets that were being given out. Whew, barely made it.

We started the day at the U.S.S Bowfin, which was a submarine launched about one year after the Pearl Harbor attack and was nicknamed “The Pearl Harbor Avenger”. During the course of WWII, the sub sank dozens of ships. It was retired and used as a museum some time after the war. We were able to go on board and explore, which was really neat. These subs were so cramped. Here are a few photos…

Our next stop was the U.S.S. Missouri, which was a battleship used in WWII. The historical significance with this ship is the fact that the surrender treaty was signed on the deck of this ship while it was anchored in Tokyo Bay. The ship was massive and we got turned around a couple times while inside (the tour was self-guided). We took lots of photos though – especially on the “Surrender Deck” – what an awesome place to have been able to see. Here are some photos from the U.S.S. Missouri.

(This is the spot the surrender treaty was signed)

After the Missouri, we had to ride the shuttle back to the U.S.S. Arizona memorial boarding area (we took a ferry out to the location). The memorial is a small structure erected over the sunken remains of the U.S.S. Arizona battleship. The ship sank in the upright position and was never removed from the water. The sailors that died in the ship still remain there and the Memorial was a very somber place to be. Due to the clear water, you can still see most of the ship below. There are a couple places where the height of the ship is still above the water line. Pictures are below…

(Names of all the soldiers lost on the U.S.S. Arizona)

The last stop for the day was the Pacific Aviation Museum. This is the latest addition to the Pearl Harbor attractions and was intended to showcase the airplanes of the War era. Not much story to tell, just photos mainly. Enjoy.

Overall, it was a very enlightening trip. It was also very interesting to be able to see Hiroshima and Pearl Harbor within the same year. Two similar stories from two VERY different perspectives. In both cases, the view point seemed to be from the victim standpoint. Hiroshima was all about the devastation caused by the A-Bomb. There was no mention (or VERY little) of Pearl Harbor, which is what started it all. At Pearl Harbor, it was focused on the devastation caused by the Japanese in the attack. There was no mention of how we ended the war or gloating that we got “revenge”. Both views were very different and both very humble.

On a different note, we will be heading to beach one last time tomorrow morning before heading to the airport tomorrow afternoon. We will be in Nashville sometime Wednesday morning! We are looking forward to seeing everyone, but will be super busy getting ready to move back into our home at the same time. We are hoping the dust will have settled and we will be back to normal sometime before Thanksgiving (the sooner the better).

See you all in a few days!!

Curtis