Since arriving at Oahu some 3 weeks ago, I've been itching to tour the USS Arizona Memorial located at Pearl Harbor. Still recovering from my food shopping adventure from the night before, I elect today to be the day I make the tour since getting there requires a simple sit down bus ride and touring just a bit of shuffling around, nothing physically challenging.
Getting a late start, I arrive at Pearl Harbor around 11:30am, the morning is both warm and sunny. I read in my Hawaiian tour book that attendance typically peaks around 1:30pm, getting there before then is a priority. Due to the increased security measures since 9/11, no bags are allowed, not even fanny backs. Knowing this fact prior to coming, I've packed my multi-pocketed shorts with all sort of sundry tour essentials. Passing through security at the front gate, I make my way to the entrance, on the way I pass by an anchor salvaged from the USS Arizona. Raised from the hulk of the destroyed battleship, it weighs a hefty 19,585 lbs, that's almost 10 tons of "grab-a hold-of-the-bottom-and-hold-on" for ya, impressive.
Admission is free to the Memorial, however, donations are gladly accepted. I drop in a few bucks on my way to picking up my admission ticket. After a short wait in line, I'm handed a ticket, along with a map of the facility. Organized to go hand-in-hand with an audio tour, I pay $5 for my headset and electronic tour guide keypad. Wishing to follow the suggested order of exhibits, I step into line for a 20 minute special movie feature, the first exhibit in what turns out to be just one many interesting things that happen to me today.
Movie time arrives, a large crowd slowly files into the theater and settles down for the anticipated feature. Before the movie starts, an official tells us what to expect upon movie completion. After the movie, we will leave the theater, board a ferryboat, then set sail for the USS Arizona Memorial that's located across the harbor. At the tail end of his instructions, the official says something that catches my full attention. He suggests that well all strive to love and appreciate our family and friends. Given the horrific events that will shortly unfold before all our eyes as we watch the movie, we will certainly come away from the experience with a renewed appreciation of the preciousness, fragility, and sometimes fleeting nature of life. An appropriate comment/reminder I think.
The movie proves to be both educational and interesting, mix in a large measure of tragedy and horror as well. Covering a bit of history leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor as well as a bit of detail on the fateful morning of December 7, 1941, the movie is both thorough, thoughtful and filled with an assortment of authentic film clips. The movie adds a lot of detail into my already general understanding of the history of the attack. The 20 minutes of film play goes by quickly.
The theater lights come up, the movie has ended, it's time to tour the Memorial. Out of the theater now, my group lines up to board the ferryboat. Operated by Navy personnel, we are all instructed to remain seated during the entire boat ride. A short 3 minute ride takes us to the Memorial's front doorstep, along the way we pass through open water, there isn't much to see other than a large docked freighter.
The Memorial is located at a place called Battleship Row bordering Ford Island, it was here during the attack 8 US battleships were anchored, all bearing the brunt of the Japanese military action. 5 battleships were sunk (USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma, USS West Virginia, USS Nevada, USS California), the remaining 3 battleships were moderately damaged (USS Pennsylvania, USS Maryland, USS Tennessee). Of the 8 battleships, 6 were returned back to full service after the attack, only the USS Oklahoma and USS Arizona were damaged beyond repair.
A Japanese bomber delivered the fatal blow to the Arizona at 8:06am. Experts generally agree the bomb was not sufficient to pierce the ships thick outer armor, rather, it may have ignited a black powder magazine which resulted on a cataclysmic explosion that ripped through the forward sections of the ship, fueled by its on board ammunition resources. It took only 9 minutes to sink her. 1,177 of the ship's 1,400 on board crew members died in the explosion and ensuing inferno. Dead Arizona crew accounted for more than half of the day's fatalities of 2,402. A total of 1,282 Americans were wounded across the entire island. The dead and injured include a small portion of the civilian population who were adversely affected by errant bombs and artillery.
The explosion and resulting fires that burned on board for 3 days was too much for the Arizona, the ship had given in to a "broken back". Beyond salvage, the decision to turn the ship into a memorial and leave it where she sank in the harbor under 40 feet of water and in 20 feet of mud was struck. Recovery of the dead sailors was not practical given the fact that the explosion had scattered a large portion of the human remains. The Memorial structure was eventually constructed in 1961. Memorial itself does not touch the USS Arizona, rather, it has been built around the submerged landmark, supported by numerous pylons. The Memorial marks the final resting place of 1,102 of the 1,177 dead crew members. A number of the crew who survived the attack but have since passed away have had their ashes buried here along with their fellow crew mates.
The carnage was not isolated to just Pearl Harbor and moored watercraft, throughout the island American aircraft were affected in the attack as well, 164 were destroyed, 159 were damaged. The Japanese did not go unscathed, 64 sailors were killed, 5 submarines were sunk, 29 aircraft destroyed, 74 were damaged.
After the ferryboat reaches the dock a wave of curious sightseers disembark. We quickly move from dock to the inner reaches of the Memorial. The memorial itself is a rather interesting structure. Straddling the beam of the USS Arizona, it is hollow in nature, resembling a large, white bus that sags a bit in the middle. The ceiling is open and airy, the two broad sides provide large open windows for viewing the battleship below and beyond. The symbolism behind the saggy middle represents United States' defeat at the hands of the Japanese on December, 7th. The higher ends represent the country's eventual victory over its attacker, with the eventual surrender of the Japanese in 1945. Looking back at the Japanese defeat, not only where they forced to relinquish all territory they took by force during the war, they were made to feel completely helpless by the atomic bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing 220,000 civilians. Interestingly enough, of the 67 Japanese ships involved in the attack on Pearl Harbor, all but 2 were destroyed as a result of American action following the events at Pearl Harbor.
As I walk around the Memorial, I notice everyone is somber and respectful, we all realize we are walking atop a tomb containing over 1,000 dead sailors. The USS Arizona is now beneath my feet, mostly underwater, only a small portion pokes above the waterline. Looking out the Memorial's large windows, the ship spans a good distance, the submerged outer reaches of both bow and stern are marked with large white buoys to give one a sense of just how immense the ship is. At 608 feet in length, that's a little more than 3 football fields stretched from end to end. At the far end of the Memorial, opposite the entrance where the dock is located, I find a room, I'll call it a shrine. On the far wall, from floor to ceiling, left wall to right wall, I find an immense marble panel, on the panel are inscribed all the names of all the sailors who died on the USS Arizona. The list of names is incredibly long. Visitors are allowed to bring leis and leave them here in the shrine in tribute to the fallen sailors. There is also an option of casting them upon the surface of the water.
One of the last to finish up in the shrine, I head back to my group, we all wait patiently for our ferryboat to arrive. As I wait, I look into the water and notice periodic bursts of color on its shimmering surface. The battleship below is slowly leaking oil, they estimate about 2 quarts a day. Each released oil droplet floats to the surface and slowly mixes with the water. It is this mixing action that causes the rainbow effect, interacting with the sunlight. Some people say these droplets are the tears shed by the fallen sailors. Environmentalists and others are concerned about all the oil that's contained in the battleship. Slowly, the ship is corroding, eventually the day will come when a critical bulkhead will fail and a large release of oil will gush into the harbor. I noticed earlier a contingency of divers milling about the water near the Memorial, they are probably monitoring the condition of the ship, I understand the Park Service has a program in place to keep tabs on it.
The finally ferryboat arrives and takes my group back to the facility. Periodically I've been listening to the audio tour since boarding the ferryboat on the way to the Memorial. Narrated by actor and WWII veteran Ernest Borgnine, the audio tour proves to be very useful and insightful, well worth the $5 fee. Once back at the facility, I immediately head straight for the on site museum. While a small museum, it is filled with volumes of interesting photos, ship models, artifacts, stories, all doing well to further advance my knowledge and enhance my experience. The audio tour works hand-in-hand with the museum, there are 11 separate exhibits that cover everything from a Japanese torpedo, a scale model of the USS Arizona, even salvage mementos. A very good museum.
The remainder of my tour takes me outside. Located at the back of the facility, my first stop is called the Remembrance Circle. Here I find multiple panels listing the names of both servicemen and civilians killed both in the initial attack and those later in the day in the performance of their duties. The listings do not include the servicemen killed on the USS Arizona, a list of those individuals are display at the USS Arizona Memorial. In the center of the Memorial is a topographic map of Oahu, it illustrates the scale of the attack, it wasn't just Pearl Harbor that was attacked, other areas across the island were affected as well.
The remaining outdoor exhibits are also interesting, one shows a map of the harbor and all anchored vessels at the time of the attack, more than 120. The map color codes the extent of the damage inflicted. While most are unaffected, many of the major vessels are, quite a few are indicated with at lease some damage, a total of 21 have some kind of damage by my count. A panoramic exhibit shows the viewer where things happened with respect to the harbor that stretches across the horizon. Another talks about the Japanese bombers over Battleship Row, it shows a detailed aerial photo of the battleships in distress, may of them burning and broken. The fall and rise of the fleet is the subject of the next exhibit. No time was wasted in salvage efforts to get the fleet back into service. Never has there been as large an effort in raising and re-commissioning a group of ships than those affected by the attack on Pearl Harbor. Most of the ships were returned back to full service within a year. The last exhibit talks about Pearl Harbor today, including an aerial map of the harbor.
Having exhausted all exhibits, I've finally completed my tour of the USS Arizona Memorial. It's hard to believe I've spend almost 3 hours touring the facility, the time flew by quickly. In the process of touring I've gained a wealth of information about events leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, the attack itself, and the aftermath of the destruction, including the creation of the USS Arizona Memorial. Pondering what I've learned over the course of my tour today, I can't help but feel a wide range of mixed emotions. I feel great sadness for those who lost their lives that day, to all the parents who lost their children, an immense, black pit of emptiness and despair was introduced to their lives, never to be filled or forgotten. I feel anger at the toll war collects in human suffering, how irreconcilable differences between peoples and greed for resources and power fuels seemingly constant human conflict and carnage. Mankind seems Hell bent on destroying itself.
Swinging in the other emotional direction I feel gratitude and pride towards all our brave servicemen and women who have in the past and continue today to put their lives in harms way to protect America, thankfulness to those who have given the ultimate sacrifice to country, those who have died, I hope they find their due reward in the next life. Lastly, I feel both hope and happiness. Less that 70 years ago Japan was my country's mortal enemy, today Japan is a good friend. As I toured the USS Arizona Memorial I noticed many Japanese tourists. What a fine day it is when a once reviled enemy can feel welcome to visit the place that was once the breeding ground of hatred between two countries. What a wonderful capacity humans have for forgiveness, cooperation and friendship. In the end, love triumphs hatred, maybe mankind has a chance, if only we can learn from history.
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