Pearl Harbor

After a restless sleep, we woke early, grabbed a bit to eat and headed for the bus stop. Today, we were going to be traveling Island style. TheBus is the same as the bus in Portland so it wasn't a new experience per se, but it allowed us to see more of Honolulu which was nice. What wasn't nice was the hour trip it took for us to get out to Pearl Habor. We did, however, arrive in time for the free Arizona memorial tour tickets. 

The Arizona tour started with a movie of how Japan came to bomb Pearl Harbor. The events leading up to the attack. It mixed the narration of a park ranger woman with really nice hair, really she didn't look like a park ranger with all that hair, with footage of the attacks as well as before and after footage. After the film we all loaded up on a boat and headed out to the memorial in its gleaming white brilliance. The Mighty Mo was off in the distance and the remains of the Arizona were down below. On the back wall were listed the names of all the men who perished with the Arizona, but The most moving part of the memorial was the names of the men on the two benches in front of the wall. Those names belonged to the men who survived the Arizona attack, but are buried in the Arizona with their fallen brothers. It was a quick in and out of the memorial but I felt like it was sufficent time for what there was to see. 

The boat took us back to the visitor center and we were able to read all the plaques which detailed the attack. What amazed me was how small the harbor was and how many ships were packed together on December 7th 1941. I know the US wanted to be ready for an attack in the pacific, but it was such arrogance to put all of our ships in one place. It reminds me of how the US won independence from Britain. I think Pearl Harbor went against my expectations because of its size. I was thinking of something bigger. It's hard for me to imagine all of those ships in that small harbor. What was highlighted by the film and plaques was Ameica's rebounding spirit after the attacks, and all but three ships were salvaged and put back to work. What's even more interesting was the Hawaii wasn't a state until 1959 well after the war ended. 

The Arizona showcased the beginning of the war and our next stop, the USS Missiouri, represents the end of then war. The USS Missiouri is a huge ship, but surprisingly it's crew mates have little living space. The bunks are super small. It is amazing that anyone fit into some of them! We went on a free tour and our guide was awesome. He told us about the history of the ship as well as the significance of a few things, such as it's position pointing towards the Arizona Memorial in order to protect the men who still reside within her. After the tour, we explored the lower decks where the crew lived, but passed up the upper decks. A short shuttle back to the visitor center, and back on the bus to go back to Waikiki.

While on the bus, I realized I had missed a call and after listening to the voicemail I began to panic. It was a call to confirm my helicopter flight, but it was at a different time. I had to wait all through dinner until I could go back to the hostel and double check my confirmation. The voicemail said I had a flight at 10:30 but my confirmation sheet clearly said my flight was at 2:30. I called. I cried. I got a free t-shirt and DVD because they screwed up, but ended up having to go on the earlier flight time and rearrange my day. 

We had originally planned to hike Diamond head but were too tired to do anything else. Plus we had spot most of the day at Pearl Harbor. I was able to correctly navigate the map to get us off the bus early near Chilys to have dinner. I got a lot of sun while walking around Pearl Harbor, but I still went out to the beach that evening and enjoyed the waves as the sun set in the distance.