Tuesday, December 06, 2005

64 Years Ago

64 Years Ago

The sound of silence was deafening as we stood there and gazed over the rail into the oily water below.  For several long moments our tourist group stood there and no one spoke.  It was almost as if time had stopped for those brief few seconds.  When people finally did begin speaking again it was in hushed whispers.  I am not one who believes in Ghosts or the supernatural, but standing on the deck on the USS Arizona Memorial you can feel something beyond this world.  

If you listen hard enough you can hear the bombs exploding around these young men, who gave their all serving their country.  You can hear the people running to their positions aboard their vessels, as their confusion turned to realization.   I was very humbled and honored to be able to visit Pearl Harbor on my trip to Hawaii.  It is one of those places that every American needs to see at least once in their lifetime.  The tour of the memorial starts at the museum; they have pictures and artifacts from the day Pearl Harbor was attacked.  We spent quite some time looking through the pictures and reading the stories, some of survivors and others that perished that tragic December day.

They called our group number and we made our way to a theater and took our seats.  They show a really great film, and it makes it much better because you are right there you have looked out into the harbor and you have seen Diamond Head, and if you were crazy like us actually climbed to the top with a broken ankle.  You have all these land marks to make references to while you are getting the history.   After the film, they loaded us on the boat and carted us across the water.  There are huge Navy ships in port and you can see their crews doing their thing, much like it must have been December 7, 1941.  The trip out to the actual Memorial site only takes a few minutes.  I think the thing that I remember feeling the most as our craft pulled along side the USS Arizona was sadness.  There is an overwhelming sadness that surrounds the memorial, and even thought it happened long before my time I was still very upset by the whole thing. 

I hope one day that I can take my boys on the journey Hawaii has a great amount of American history that is worth seeing.  If you get the chance don't pass it up, it will be a trip you won't soon forget.  I have added some links below feel free to click them!









USS Arizona Memorial

National Geographic Articles

Great links for more history

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