A History Lesson

Today, I went on an all day bus tour that included stops at the Arizona Memorial, the USS Missouri, the Pacific Aviation Museum as well as a city tour of Honolulu.  This was the one thing I wanted to do here that I knew Brooke would have been bored with.  It just so happens that Brooke has been at the convention center all day, so I was able to do this.

Man it was amazing.  After going through the USS Arizona visitor's center, you watch a shot film about the history of Pearl Harbor.  After which, you hop on a Navy boat and are shuttled over the harbor to the actual memorial.  Seeing that battleship sitting right below me in the water and the small oils slicks from the fuel still seeping from her tanks, even after 66 years.  I stared in amazement at the long list of names of men who's bodies were still in the waters below my feet.  It was quite breathtaking and sad at the same time. 

We had an amazing tour guide whom told us many stories about the Hawaiian front you may not have heard about back home.  Stuff from the natives point of view.  He relayed the entire build up to and the Island's reaction after the bombing.  I was on a tour with some folks from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada as well as all of from the mainland.  It was an interesting mix of points of view and understanding.

After the Arizona, we crossed over the bridge to Ford Island.  This is still an active military base, so before we could go over the bridge, the bus was searched, we were told that if we took pictures anywhere except where we were told we could, the MP's would confiscate our cameras.  Man, I wish I could take a picture because on the bridge was a great shot of Aloha Stadium.

After driving through the base, we arrived at the USS Missouri.  I upgraded to a guided tour.  You see, you could either mosey around for a couple of hours, or you can pay an extra $7 and be in a guided tour group and get some extra info.  That is what I wanted.  We walked around for quite a while, saw many interesting things and heard very interesting tid bits.  For example, did you know the Canadian Allied representative messed up signing the surrender?  I didn't.  Check it out!

While on the tour, the guide mentioned that the wooden plugs on the wood deck occasionally will work themselves loose.  He said if you see one, pick it up and put it in your pocket.  I found one, so there is a piece of the deck of the USS Missouri sitting next to me right now.

Next, we took a tour of the aviation museum next to the airstrip that Amelia Earhart took off from on her first attempt to fly around the world.  It is also where many scenes from "Pearl Harbor" was filmed.  We also got to see several of the props from the film in a separate hangar.  BTW, the bullet holes are still in these hangars.

Lastly, we took a drive through the city and saw many of the sites.  Now, I am back at the hotel and Brooke won't be back for about 4 hours.  I think I will take a nap.

Later,

Jay

Posted by: Slowbek on 3/27/2008 9:11:24 PM , 1 comments