December 7th, 1941 – A day that will forever live on in infamy.
Visiting Pearl Harbor while on vacation in Hawaii was a surreal experience. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to have been a witness to the awful events that occurred there, or worse yet, to have had to participate in the fight.
The battleship USS Missouri is open for the public to tour and is enormous and very educational. You quickly forget you are on a boat after wandering around its multiple decks. The written agreement of surrender from Japan was later signed on board this ship, marking the end of World War II.
The main feature to visit is the USS Arizona Memorial. Almost half of the casualties at Pearl Harbor occurred on the battleship Arizona. What is left of the ship is submerged in about 40 feet of water below the memorial. When you look down through observation holes you can see that the water is still somewhat slicked with oil. What is left of the almost 1.5 million gallons of fuel that was on board continues to slowly seep out to this day and adds to the somberness of standing above a war grave. After their death, survivors of the Arizona are allowed to have their cremated remains returned to the ships wreckage by divers. There is a plaque at the memorial that describes how divers feel a “pull” as they release an urn into what was once a gun turret area on board. They say that it is the ship accepting one of its own back.
I am thankful I had the opportunity to visit Pearl Harbor and pay respect to the many who gave their life fighting for our nation.
Capturing My Focus 