Hawaii - Day 6

I just noticed that the dates on the top of my blog are the current date, not our trip day. So just ignore it!

Wednesday, December 1st we went to Pearl Harbor to visit the Arizona Memorial. It is remarkable when you consider the ship went down 69 years ago.

The memorial sits above the mid-section of the ship. In the center of the memorial, there is an open area where you can actually view the ship. 1177 sailors died and are entombed in the ship. Several of the visitors were dropping flowers from lei's into the water above the ship. It was very moving.

This is a listing of the names of all who died there on December 7, 1941.

It's hard to believe after 69 years, but the ship is still leaking oil.

The memorial grounds were interesting, too. This is one of the guns on display there. I don't look too comfortable, do I?

Hawaii - Day 5

Today we went to the National Cemetery of the Pacific. It's in the "Punchbowl" overlooking Honolulu--an extinct volcano. It is very impressive. Jay is standing in front of one of the maps showing the campaigns in the Pacific during WWII.




This is the entry to the cemetery and the Memorial Walk. It's quite impressive. I was a little intimidated by the steps up to this statue after having walked up Diamond Head but it wasn't too bad and well worth it to view all the memorials. We met one of the cemetery custodians who told us he came to Hawaii on a two-week vacation six years ago! He cashed in his return ticket and decided to stay. I can understand that!