A Visit to Pearl Harbor

Brian King | May 09, 2005  | 0 comments  | Print  | E-mail

Getting There:

Obviously you are going to have to make a significant effort to reach this distant battlefield, but if you find yourself in Hawaii for other reasons (as I did), this is the ONE area every military historian must visit.  Just make sure when you make your driving plans to the memorials you go to the USS Arizona memorial, and not just drive out to "Pearl Harbor."  You may just end up at the military base, and get some light razzing from the Marines on guard duty who constantly have to turn away tourists like us who went to the wrong place!

Try to arrive as early as possible to the USS Arizona memorial so you can get on one of the first launches out to the actual site.  Not only do you get to wait in the cool of the day as you watch bus after bus of tourists arrive after you, but you also have the best chance of running into a few of the old veterans who were there in 1941, and who may share some of their stories as you wait in line.  Unfortunately, we realized this only after we were about to enter…so we missed any stories these gentlemen might have had.  However, these volunteers are by no means a sure thing, no matter what time you arrive.

USS Arizona Memorial

Much to our surprise, the memorial itself is 100% free.  Obviously you are encouraged to drop in a donation to help support their efforts, but it is really amazing that a site of this magnitude is free to the public.  I do recommend spending the US5.00 and get a portable headset so you can walk around to the displays, museum, and the monument itself and hear veterans’ stories and the explanations of a narrator and hear things in the comfort of your own earphones.  There are no guided tours provided by the US Park Service here, other than arranging to physically take you on the boat out to the site.

The entire memorial consists of the land piece (museum, gift shop, rest rooms, movie theatre, displays), and the water piece, which is the floating monument.  Before you can leave land, you are REQUIRED to watch a short historical documentary on the attack on Pearl Harbor, which was very well done.  I thought it was interesting that the film was very pragmatic, and steered away from painting the Japanese as evil men.  In my view this is important in continuing the healing process between the nations involved in the Second World War.  It certainly praises the men and women of the United States who perished or otherwise suffered in the attack…

After checking out the movie, you are released to the care of the US Navy as they ferry you out to the floating memorial.  As a prelude to your next tour destination, you will notice the USS Missouri sitting just south of the USS Arizona.  Obviously a fitting compliment, as the USS Arizona symbolizes the start of the war for the United States, while the Mighty Mo represents the end of that great conflict.

Once on the floating platform, you will immediately notice the oft-discussed oil blotches still rising from the wreckage.  The saying goes that the oil will continue to rise until the last of the surviving veterans join their comrades who perished during the original attack.  The Park Service does a good job of setting the mood for this hallowed ground, and I found that most of the 175 other people on the boat at the time were respectful. 

USS Missouri hangs in the distance.  Inside the floating platform, you will be able to look straight down on the ship, and this is the place where you often see dignitaries/veterans/etc. dropping wreaths onto the tomb below.

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