The main event of today would be a visit to the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. Since we'd been out a bit late the night before (Fred and I were very late), we weren't up and about until almost ten o'clock. While Fred and I were waiting for Ron and Jay to get ready, Fred got a better picture of
the view from our hotel balcony,
the same view that I'd tried to capture the first afternoon we were here.
We retrieved the car and drove over to the H-1 Expressway and took it all the way to Pearl Harbor, where we just followed the signs for the parking area for the Memorial.
The Arizona Memorial Visitor Center
We found a convenient spot to park and and then walked over to the beginning of the long walk down to the visitor center. Here, we asked Ron to take a picture of
Fred and I at the entrance to the Arizona Memorial,
a picture taken at point #1 on the aerial view at right.
As soon as we walked towards the Visitor Center, I could tell that it was all new and different- at least since the time I came to the Memorial on my way back from Korea. From the size of the buildings ahead, I thought there would be a lot more to see and do than I remembered, and at point #2 we found an
explanatory entrance sign
gave us a lot of useful information before we even began our visit.
One of the first things we saw, at point #3 just inside the entrance in the courtyard, was the
actual USS Arizona anchor,
one of the few things actually brought up from the wreck.
Going inside the Visitor Center, the first thing you see is a wall-sized
mural of the USS Arizona,
and it was an exhibit that caught everyone's attention. It might seem unusual that with all the destruction that occurred on December 7, 1941, and given all the personnel who died throughout Oahu on multiple vessels and in other situations, that so much attention should be given to just one ship. The answer would seem to be that the USS Arizona occupies one of those symbolic positions in American history, much like the Alamo (an inconsequential frontier outpost that became a symbol of American resistance to interference), the Maine (a rallying symbol for the Spanish-American War, but just one of many vessels damaged) and, more recently, the Twin Towers. It represents all of what happened on that day, even though only about a third of the lives lost were on her. And I suppose the other reason why she occupies the position she does is the fact that she and her crew are still down there, preserved forever (not only is it extremely dangerous to enter the wreck, but now there would probably be little sentiment for doing so). The thousand human remains are only a hundred feet or so underneath the surface, but they might as well be on the moon.
The Visitor Center has a number of different areas that we visited. The buildings all surround a central garden, with the Exhibit Hall on one side and twin movie theatres on the other. Visitors can tour through the exhibits, relax in the courtyard or go outside to the viewing area across Pearl Harbor. There are some interesting exhibits out there, too, but we'll look at them shortly. To get out to the actual memorial, built atop the sunken ship, the procedure is to watch the 30-minute movie first. After that, each theatre empties its visitors to the dock, where one of two cutters takes you out to the memorial. We decided to do that last, so the first thing we did was to look through the exhibits. Take a look at some of the exhibits we saw by clicking on the thumbnails to pull up the full-size images:
A map of the island of Oahu, done in metal, that shows the locations on the island that figured into the events that occurred on that Sunday morning. Some of the numbers mark places where lookouts saw and reported the planes coming in. Most of the damage was right around Pearl Harbor, and the numbers there relate to the installations that were damaged. There were also some separate attacks on outlying installations, such as the small airfield on the eastern side of the island, and the army barracks in the center of Oahu.
One of the most famous photographic images of the day- the USS Arizona burning and listing to starboard.
The next three pictures show two different models of the USS Arizona that we found in the exhibit hall. So that you can understand what the first two are showing you, I thought it might be helpful to include here a small picture of what the actual memorial looks like from the air. By comparing the orientation of the memorial as seen from the air to the orientation of the model of the memorial sitting on top of the wreck, and by matching up the position of the two platforms that were build alongside the wreck (I never did find out what they were for), I think you can get an idea of what is underneath the memorial itself. You may also be able to compare the models of the underwater wreck to the third picture, which is of a model of the USS Arizona as it was before the attack. Then, when we are on the memorial later, and you see some of the parts of the ship that either come up above the water or are just beneath it, you will have a better idea of the orientation of the ship below you. As usual, view a full-size image by clicking on its thumbnail:
A view of the model of the USS Arizona as she is today, taken from the side where the platforms have been built.
The USS Arizona as it is today, sitting almost upright on the floor of the harbor, with the memorial built directly over it. In later pictures, you may see some of the superstructure just below the water. The one turret that projects above the water today is on the far side of the memorial model.
A model of the USS Arizona before the attack. The tops of the antenna towers and radar domes were sheared off in the attack. If you look just forward of the aft control tower and crane, you can see the top of the round structure that has been painted black. This is the structure that you will see later sticking up above the water line.
We wanted to save the trip out to the memorial to the last, so we spent some time in the courtyard and out on the esplanade where you can see all of Pearl Harbor. We were at point #1 in the aerial view at right, and I took a good movie here that you can watch with the player below:
Just outside the area between the exhibit halls and the theatres (point #2 on the aerial view), there was quite a restful
fountain and waterfall
as well as one of the state birds of Hawaii-
the Nene.
We would see more of them on the Big Island and learn some more about them as well.
One of the most powerful exhibits outside on the esplanade is a circular stone platform (located at point #3 on the aerial view) that has metal plaques that list all the persons known to have died during the attack on Pearl Harbor. The first plaque gives a summary of the attack, and the second summarizes the people who died- in both military and civilian categories. These first two plaques can be seen
here.
The third and fourth plaques list the
civilians killed,
giving their locations, names and ages (when known). The fifth and sixth plaques are used to provide a
ranks and ratings key
for all the rest of the memorial plaques. These remaining plaques list all the servicemembers who were killed- giving there names, ranks/ratings and location (by ship or installation). The entire circle of plaques was very sobering, and you can see a movie of the entire circular memorial using the movie player at right.
It was about time to go get in line for the next introductory movie prior to going out to the memorial itself, but before we left the esplanade we took some pictures of the harbor area. You can view the full-size image of any of these views by clicking on the thumbnails below:
The USS Arizona memorial taken with a long zoom lens from the Visitor Center. Just this side of the memorial itself you can see the portion of the superstructure that you saw in one of the models earlier.
Taken from the Visitor Center, with a moderate zoom, at the left is the USS Missouri (a ship that was damaged during the attack but which was repaired and saw service in the Pacific Theatre) and, in front of it, the USS Arizona Memorial. Behind both of them is Ford Island.
Nearer to the Visitor Center, alongside the bridge from the island of Oahu to Ford Island is a World War II submarine. We couldn't find out its name, but if we have time after our visit here we might go see what it is.
This is the actual view of Ford Island, the USS Missouri and the Arizona memorial as seen from the Visitor Center. One of the two shuttle boats is on its way to dock at the memorial.
Well, we were ready to go out to the memorial, so the first thing we had to do was line up for the explanatory movie. While we were waiting, both Fred and I took pictures of the rest of the group in line, and you can view those pictures
here
and
here.
We watched the movie, boarded the shuttle boat, and about 45 minutes later disembarked on the USS Arizona Memorial.
On the USS Arizona Memorial
As the cutter approached the dock at the Memorial itself, the first thing you see is the
identification of the ship
whose wreckage lies beneath. I understand that on the official records, the USS Arizona is still "commissioned," and that, for official purposes, the crewmen are still identified as being assigned to her. Then the cutter docks and, after a short announcement, you are on the memorial.
On the memorial, the first things you see are
the dedication plaque
for the Arizona Memorial and then a
set of diagrams
to orient you as to where the Memorial sits in relation to the wreckage below, and what portions of the wreckage are visible above the surface of the water. Just beyond the dedication and information plaques, you enter the memorial itself.
The Memorial building, which is built over the wreck of the Arizona, is a long, pure white building. It is closed on both ends (one end is the dock and the other is the memorial to the dead) but open in the middle with broad "windows" through which visitors can look out onto the wreck itself and to the other parts of Pearl Harbor. The ceiling is composed of four or five large openings that let in the elements. From one of the exhibits in the Visitor Center, we learned that the designers wanted the Memorial to be as open as possible, symbolic of the fact that the wreck is also open to the elements. Even at the ends of the Memorial there are open skylights, although the openings are smaller. It may be hard to imagine what it looks like, so take a look at the pictures we took of the inside of the Memorial:
One of the most interesting, and most unsettling things about the USS Arizona Memorial is the fact that you can see both parts of the actual ship sticking up a short ways above the surface of the water (look at both of these superstructure elements
here
and
here).
Of course, the bay is not so deep here, right near Ford Island, that this is so unusual (not like having one of the Titanic's funnels sticking up above the surface of the North Atlantic), but it is eerie in that you realize exactly what it below you on the bay floor, having already seen the models in the Visitor Center and the explanatory diagrams when you entered the Memorial.
Even more unsettling is what you can see when you lean over the railing of the Memorial and look directly down into the water- you can see the ship itself (images of what you can see are
here
and
here).
And what makes this so unnerving is knowing that there are over one thousand sailors and airmen IN the ship that is just a few feet below the waves. They can't be safely retrieved, as was discovered shortly after the war ended, because of the buildup of explosive gasses in some of the compartments of the ship. Some lives were lost early on when retrieval was attempted. This is one major reason why the Memorial building was built out here, on the ship itself. The ship itself is the Memorial.
And the evidence that the ship is still, in a sense, "alive," is brought home by the continuous presence of
small oil slicks
which are formed by petroleum compounds- gasoline, diesel fuel and oil- slowly leaking from the ship and rising to the surface of the water. This has been going on for over half a century now, and how long it will continue no one can say.
While we were on the Memorial, of course, we recorded our own presence here:
Ron and Jay with some of the exposed superstructure of the USS Arizona in the background.
Fred and I on the USS Arizona Memorial.
As I mentioned before, the Arizona is not the only World War II ship that is here in Pearl Harbor permanently. Just a few hundred yards towards the ocean from the Memorial is the
USS Missouri,
shown here in closeup from the Arizona Memorial. The Missouri was also in Pearl Harbor on the day of the attack, but was one of the few vessels that could be repaired and refitted to see service in the Pacific. After the war, it continued to be in service until it was decommissioned and brought here to Pearl Harbor to become a permanent fixture in the harbor. There are tours of the ship that you can take, but we didn't avail ourselves of them (mostly because I didn't remember it was here). A view of how the USS Missouri actually looks from the Arizona Memorial (it is actually the better part of a mile away) can be seen
here).
There was one last thing that we hadn't seen on the Memorial, and that was the Memorial Wall. At one end of the building, in a more enclosed area, is a marble wall that has inscribed on it the names and ranks of all the servicemen who died on the Arizona, most of whom are entombed inside the ship below us. The wall is so large, and the room so small, that it was impossible to get a photograph of the whole thing with the lens on my little camera, so I had to settle for this view of the
Memorial Wall.
It is a natural thing to do, whenever there is a list like this one, to look for one's own name. Although it was undoubtedly not a close relation of any kind, one of us found
a match.
We had spent quite some time here on the Memorial; but it is an inspiring place, and well worth the time. It is, perhaps, one of those few places that all American citizens could benefit from visiting. I would put it on par with the monuments in Washington or one of the major Civil War battlefields or perhaps the Alamo. It is one of those sites that not only represents or remembers a specific event or person, but which transcends that event or person and makes a larger statement of who we are and what we are as a nation.
But it was time to go, and the four of us lined up to take the next cutter back to the Visitor Center.
Ending Our Visit to the Arizona Memorial
When the next launch arrived, the four of us
boarded the launch
for the return to the Visitor Center. On the way, we got some pretty good views of the harbor
from the launch
and an especially good view of the
Visitor Center.
On the way, the launch pilot and her first mate did a final presentation of some information about the Arizona Memorial and the other things to see and do around Pearl Harbor, and
Jay, Ron and I
listened with interest.
When we got back to the Visitor Center, we disembarked and headed back to the car, where Ron and Jay asked us to take a picture of them at the entrance sign, so both of us did so. You can see Fred's picture
here
and my picture
here.
It was a real experience, visiting the USS Arizona, even though I'd been there before. I hope the other guys got a lot out of it as well. We decided to have lunch near the Memorial, so we drove a short distance away and found a pretty good restaurant that satisfied everyone. Then we drove back to Waikiki and the hotel.
Waikiki Beach
Driving back to the Ohana Islander Waikiki, as we came into the Waikiki area, we passed a really
unique commercial building.
Not only was the building itself attractive, but it had been constructed with a large open space right in the center. It looks almost too futuristic to be real, but I can only imagine that if the builder's goal was to attract attention, he succeeded. Near the hotel, we also passed one of the many
huge murals
that have been painted on the sides of buildings throughout the city. Grant and I saw quite a few of them when we were here, and we saw this one and a few more on this visit. They add a lot of color and interest to what might otherwise be plain office and residential towers. Fred found one last interesting structure just across from the hotel. It was actually a department store, but it had this interesting
fish mosaic
on the outside. Very colorful.
The day after we arrived, Ron suggested that we go to a Hawaiian Luau. While we all thought it might turn out to be a little cheezy, we all agreed that it might be fun to do, so for tonight Ron had made some reservations. This didn't give us a great deal of time this afternoon, so we decided to simply drive over to Kapiolani Park and hit the beach for a while.
We drove down Kalakaua Avenue to Kapiolani Park, found a place to park and walked over to the beach. When we got to the beach, we found ourselves right near a short pier and adjacent to a lifeguard station. We were approximately at the location of the yellow star on the aerial view at left.
Here are some pictures Fred and I took of us on the beach (click on a thumbnail to view the full-size image):
(Click on Thumbnails to View)
We took some other random pictures while here at the beach. Our
neighbors on the beach
looked very compatible, there were some
people on a catamaran
straight out from us in the ocean and
we went for a swim.
Also, both Fred and I took movies of our time here on the beach; you can view Fred's movie using the left-hand player below, and you can take a look at my 360-degree panorama using the right-hand player below:
This was also a great place to get some good views of the hotels and apartments along Waikiki, and here are three of the best views (click on the thumbnails to view the full-size images):
The hotels and apartments along the eastern end of Waikiki Beach; the twin towers in the middle are a large Marriott Resort.
A close-up view of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, one of the oldest hotels in Honolulu and the one with the most cachet.
The western end of Waikiki Beach, with the Sheraton Waikiki, one of the largest and oldest chain hotels in Honolulu, the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and some of Waikiki beach.
I was out on the pier taking some of my pictures when I was joined by a
"Lady in Red."
I never did quite figure out what she was doing, but she had a little CD player with her and she was dancing/moving to the sound of the music. She was actually fun to watch, and didn't seem to mind having her picture taken. I took a number of shots, but this was the best one. A local character, I guess.
We stayed at the beach for over an hour, and then picked up our stuff and headed back to the car. In the park, between the beach and the car, was this very pretty
banyan tree,
and I thought it was worth a picture. There was also a series of flower and plant beds near where we parked the car, and Fred found some interesting flora he hadn't seen before. To see his full-size images, just click on the thumbnails below:
(Click on Thumbnails to View)
When we got back to the hotel, Fred noticed the
tropical hibiscus
growing over the entrance. We got cleaned up and then piled into the car for the 20-mile drive to the luau.
Germaine's Luau
Ron had picked Germaine's Luau out of the three or four that are held most every night for the tourists. He asked the staff at the hotel, and he got some literature, and it looked like it was a bit more reasonable than some of the others so Germaine's it was. The site of the luau was all the way at the southwestern tip of Oahu, although not very far by Texas standards. All we had to do was get out of Waikiki and hop on the H-1 and take it west until the expressway ended, then head south on the road at the expressway's end. Once we got to the outskirts of the industrial area, then signs directed us the rest of the way. We parked the car, noting that most people seem to have come in busses, and walked over to the luau site itself.
The area where the luau is held isn't really all that big- maybe a five acres all told. I thought I would capture an aerial view of the site so you could get an idea of where it was and what it was like. It was on the ocean, of course, and that made it nice. There was a main stage, a lot of long tables arranged fan-like out from the stage, a small building with a raised porch where all the alcoholic drinks were served (our tickets included a couple of those), an area where the buffet was set up and another building where soft drinks, iced tea and some other things could be obtained. We found an unreserved table at approximately the location of the red star, and as you look at the pictures and watch the movies you can get a good orientation as to what it was like.
Actually, not many of the still pictures we took turned out. There wasn't very much ambient light, and the stage action moved too fast and was too far away for a flash. Had I known about the "candlelight" setting on my own camera, that might have helped, but the still pictures weren't very illustrative in any case. I did take two, though, that turned out. One is of
the seating area
(we later moved to the table you can see in this picture, although when we arrived it had a "reserved" sign on it) near the stage, and the other is of the
rocky beach after sunset.
About the only pictures that turned out were the movies, and we took quite a few of them. Shortly after we arrived, I shot one movie to show what the area was like, and you can view that movie using the player at right.
Then, when the Master of Ceremonies came out to begin the show, I took a short movie of her introduction. I cut off the movie when I realized that all she was going to do for the next half-hour was introduce people with birthdays, anniversaries and first-timers to the islands; you can view the shortened movie using the player below:
But Fred took the best movies, all of them of various portions of the 90-minute show. I hope you will watch them, for the show was pretty good and so are the movies. Just click on the movie players below to watch as many movies as you wish:
Female Bolo Performance
Fire Dancer
Tahitian Dance
We stayed at the luau until about ten-thirty, but then left. We had an early flight the next morning to the Big Island, so we needed to get packed and ready to go in the morning.
You can use the links below to continue to another photo album page.
