Hawaii, Part II

While on Oahu, we went to visit the Pearl Harbor memorial. It is something I have always wanted to see and to pay respect to all those who lost their lives at this place. I remember first learning about Pearl Harbor in History class in Jr. High. The significance of the Pearl Harbor attack and that it would bring the US into WWII seemed paramount to American History. I was astonished to learn of the thousands who died in only minutes. I vividly remember the picture of the memorial in the textbook. I was amazed by the architecture and the idea of a memorial hovering over the sunken remains of the USS Arizona. At that point in my adolescent life, I decided that I would have to visit Pearl Harbor at some point in my life.

One of the massive turrets protrudes out of the shallow grave of the USS Arizona.

For over 60 years, the USS Arizona has been steadily leaking oil and fuel. It is as if the boat itself is slowly bleeding. At the memorial, you can still smell the fuel and see the oil floating on top of the water. In Hawaiian tradition, many people throw in lei flowers in tribute.

In a wonderful display of the proclivity of nature to proliferate, there is an abundance of fish and coral who now call the USS Arizona home. There are even microorganisms which have adapted to metabolize the leaking oil.

Inside the USS Arizona memorial is a quiet, sobering experience akin to visiting a cemetary.

A wall adorns the engraved names of the sailors aboard when the ship sunk.

This is the memorial for the USS Oklahoma. Each of the 400+ stone pillars signifies a life lost on this vessel which was also sunk during the attack.

We later took a tour of the USS Missouri. It was built in the early 1900's and served in a handful of wars. It was even recomissioned for the first Persian Gulf War!!

Mighty Mo

Mines used against enemy ships.

Mighty Mo packs some heavy artillery. These 16in barrels can fire 400 lb ballistics (below) accurately up to 20 miles.

Inside the ship, I tried my hand at the helm.

Here is one of the first GPS systems. It is colossal, like everything on this ship. It makes me appreciate the little Garmin that sits on our dashboard. Instead of finding the nearest Starbucks, this one is used to locate coordinates for battle and stuff.

(Hawaii, Part III coming soon....)