This was a long anticipated visit. Pearl Harbor did not disappoint even with high expectations. We visited the area the day after arrival in Oahu. We took a city bus from our hotel to the National Park. While it took an hour, it was only 1.25 each way and the tours from the hotel started at $45 each, very frugal:). Plus we could stay as long as we wished. You must make a reservation for the boat to the Arizona Memorial and we were scheduled for 1:00 so we arrived on site about 10:30. We had to check our backpacks as no bags are permitted on the site.

First we toured the submarine Bowfin. (I wrote about that boat on September 17th.) We also enjoyed the submarine museum and the memorial to all the US subs lost at sea. Moving spot. There are a few buildings associated with the VC here, including one museum for the War in the Pacific and one on the attack on the military in Oahu including Pearl Harbor. They were well presented. Cindy and I were both surprised by the number of military units attacked before the primary attack on the ships. There were also some great stories about the civilians associated with the bases. We then moved to a third building where we were given some instructions on protocol for the ride to and while on the Arizona Memorial. This portion was run by the Navy and the NPS. Because of the restrictions photos were difficult to take of the whole memorial. You were not permitted to take them from the boat, the dock or the ramp, only on the memorial itself. I got one brief shot of the side of the structure and the flag at half mast with the permission of the ranger on the ramp. One.

The actual memorial is simple with a mostly open top and sides and a list of the service men, nearly 1200, who died on the Arizona and are interred here. The marble wall of names took up one end of the mmemorial. There are a couple plaques and a small model of the harbor. The bulk of the ship is just visible below the surface with a few small portions out of the water. One spot showed the oil still leaking out of the ship, slowly, now doing so for 81 years. Made it seem somehow more real. You are permitted on the memorial for about 25 minutes and talking is only allowed at a whisper and that is enforced by the ranger on site. It does give a dose of reality to what occurred here, the lost lives and the momentous events that ensued from 12/07/1941.

We were not allowed on Ford Island because we did not get tickets to the USS Missouri or the Aviation Museum. At the present time that is the only way onto the island even though there is a walk and some officers quarters usually open they were not the day we visited.