We were fortunate to walk up at the right time and the friendly park ranger told us he had two tickets left for the 11:30 USS Arizona tour. Perfect timing, as it was only a 20 minute wait for us! The tour to the Arizona is free to the public, and the monument asks for donations to keep it going.
We looked around a bit and took some pictures before entering the theatre and watching a 30-minute video on the reasons Japan attacked us, the actual attack, and the aftermath.
The video was very moving and both of us felt a little misty-eyed watching it.
As a history buff I know the history of WWII but the video did a wonderful job of tying together all of the aspects.
Narrated by Stockard Channing, it talked about the United States' ambivalence to entering the war in Europe and how our oil embargo against Japan stalled their aggression in Southeast Asia...a precursor to their aggression against us.
It's a story of greed and power.
Despite the empire's grandiose plans to rule the world, Admiral Yamamoto (in charge of the Japanese Navy) did not want to wage war on the United States. He had been educated in the US and knew a war against us would end badly. But while envoys from Japan were meeting in Washington to avoid war, he was planning the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The US had moved its Pacific fleet to Pearl strategically. Yamamoto knew that if Japan wanted to succeed in Southeast Asia, crippling the American Pacific fleet at Pearl would be the only way.
The attack was precise and devastating.
The USS Arizona burns after a bomb pierced her ammunition magazine
Half of the US Pacific fleet (app. 150 vessels) were anchored in Pearl Harbor. All but one battleship was moored off Ford Island...Battleship Row.
By 10 a.m. 21 vessels sunk or were badly damaged. 1/2 of the casualties occurred on the USS Arizona (1177). Wheeler, Hickam, and Bellows AFBs lost 217 men and aircraft. Naval Air Stations Kaneohe and Ford lost 19 men.
Pacific Fleet aircraft losses totaled 92. Ewa Marine Corps Airbase lost 4 men and 33 aircraft.
Including civilian deaths, the toll was 2,403.
Every branch of the military was affected by the attack.
Two-thirds of the deaths occurred in the first fifteen minutes of the attack when the Oklahoma, Utah, and Arizona were bombed.
After the video was finished you can imagine the silence as people milled out to the boat to travel to the memorial site.
On December 7 of this year it will be 70 years since that fateful Sunday morning. The seeping oil that bubbles to the surface from the Arizona is a constant reminder that it was once a thriving ship, run by young sailors with promising futures.
The 1177 souls who perished are now joined by 33 of their boatmates who survived the attack. The survivors are given the choice of having their ashes interred inside the Arizona (placed by Navy divers).
Jonna and I, as we stood on the memorial, remarked that it won't be long until the stories told by Pearl Harbor survivors and other WWII veterans will be written instead of oral.
Some visitors dropped leis and flowers into the water and there were a few hugging; possibly family members of those interred, or just overcome by the senselessness of the attack.
It's hard not to be moved by the monument.
The seamen who died were my father's age, as were most of the "boots on the ground" in WWII. It's sad to think so many perished because of the maniacal greed of a few.
I think one should always look for the positives in any situation. The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese truly awakened the sense of unity in our nation; the masses (young and old, male and female) working together to right the ship, so to speak.
The "Sleeping Giant," as Japan referred to us, would not be caught unaware until 60 years later when a new enemy emerged.
The irony of being with so many Japanese tourists on the memorial tour was not lost on me. I wanted to ask them what they thought about the attack and the aftermath that claimed so many lives in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and on the warfront of the Pacific. But the memorial is not a place for political debate, it's a graveyard for the innocence that war steals.
The fact that our nation, and the soldiers who fought in WWII, have forgiven Japan for its misguided aggression, is our most worthy badge.
For those who survived, the memory of the attack and carnage has most assuredly left deep emotional scars, and forgiveness was a daily struggle.
But without forgiveness the scars would have been much deeper.
Stay tuned for Pearl Harbor pt 2 USS Arizona photos
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