I just got back, from my first visit to the United States. I was away for a month, splitting my time evenly in Hawai’i and New York City.
18th October 2011, was the day I visited Pearl Harbor. I had already been in Hawai’i since the 6th of October, spending five nights in Maui and four nights on Big Island. I was overwhelmed and taken aback by how friendly the Hawaiian and American people are. Their culture is warm, blissful and stress-free. But, most of all, their actions and gestures are genuine and sincere. I had an amazing fourteen days which was filled with snorkeling, swimming, surfing, diving, volcano tours, learning about the Kingdom of Hawai’i and Madame Pele, shopping, sunrise at Mt Haleakala, waterfalls at Waimea Valley and most of all eating delicious food whilst watching the most beautiful sunsets in this world. Hawai’i is truly a place of paradise, kindness and exquisiteness. I fell in love with the islands, and would visit again tenfold over.
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| Diamond Head - Waikiki; Resort Bar - Kaanapali; Sunset at North Shore - Oahu and Sheraton Resort, Maui. |
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is one of the most significant and historic marks in World War II, as it was a turning point for the United States. The war was no longer classified as the European war, it was now a global war. I had relatively mixed feelings on going to see Pearl Harbor. I knew for writing the book, seeing it in person, would be invaluable and help to tell a better story. However, with all the reading and research I’ve done on both wars , it can be quite depressing to see such a place.
We arrived at Pearl Harbor around 11am. It was not what I had expected. In my mind I portrayed a large monument and memorial park that was by the water. But when arriving, it was very different.Following the events of September 11, we were advised on the tour that you weren’t permitted to take backpacks or handbags into the memorial centre. We could only take our cameras and wallets, our bags were to be held at the security storage outside the centre. When we hopped off the tour bus, directly in front was the entrance of the visitor centre. It was a white one-story building, which looked similar to a high school block. The visitor centre wasn’t very big and the entrance reminded me of the gates to a football stadium. There was five security guards collecting tickets and keeping a watch of who was trying to enter with their bags. Pearl Harbor remains the top tourist destination in Hawai’i with over 1,500,000 visitors annually.
We had around an hour and a half to view the grounds of the memorial before we had to commence the video and boat tour to the U.S.S – Arizona. We walked to the right of the centre, heading towards the U.S.S Bowfin Submarine. We stopped at the Waterfront Memorial, which is dedicated to the more than 3,500 submarines and 52 American submarines lost during World War II. The memorials were on the point, in a half circle overlooking Pearl Harbor and in the centre stood the American flag. Displayed to the left of the memorials was a fighter plane and torpedo. I looked at them in detail and was captivated by the size of the fighter plane. In comparison to the torpedo it was very small.
U.S.S Bowfin Submarine and Museum
After looking at the war instruments, we walked into the U.S.S Bowfin Submarine Museum. It was extremely moving looking at the navy artifacts, as it gave a human presence to the memorials and vessels you saw outside. There were portraits of the Naval Captains and the posthumously Medal of Honor crosses they received along with the first communication typed when the attack happened at Pearl Harbor, which read “Japan started hostilities govern yourselves accordingly”. However, the most frightening piece of artifact in the museum was the replica of the atomic bomb. The scale and sheer size it was compared to a regular torpedo was inconceivable, and knowing the destruction on humanity it caused.
The U.S.S Bowfin Submarine, was decommissioned on December 1, 1971 and permanently installed in Pearl Harbor. The submarine is open to visitors, allowing you to go inside and view where the 80-man crew worked, ate and slept whilst on patrol during World War II and the Korean War. Looking inside the submarine, I felt a little uneasy due to the confined space. I couldn’t believe or fathom how 80 men were inside this small vessel, breathing the same air, working and spending days and weeks 650 feet (approx 200 meters) underwater. The submarine was nicknamed the “Pearl Harbor Avenger” as it was launched a year after the attack and is personified as a she. The U.S.S Bowfin is a Balao-class submarine named after the Bowfin, a fresh water fish of the eastern United States. This underwater vessel amazingly sunk 44 enemy ships during the course of her extraordinary war patrols. She completed nine war patrols operating from the Netherlands East Indies to the Sea of Japan and the waters south of Hokkaido. A vessel that certainly surpassed its expectations of retaliation.
U.S.S Arizona Memorial
After viewing the Bowfin, it was time to make our way to the theatre. Before boarding the boat that would take us to the U.S.S Arizona memorial, we viewed a documentary. Watching the film was difficult and heartbreaking. I couldn’t help feeling weak for what I saw people went through that day.
The battleship U.S.S Arizona sunk in Oahu’s Pearl Harbor after a Japanese bomb triggered a massive ammunition explosion on board. It took only 19 minutes for the ship to sink and taking 1,177 soldiers with it.
An indescribable amount of sadness and sympathy filled the room after the film. There was silence as we all boarded the boat to the U.S.S Arizona Memorial. It was a ten-minute journey to where the ship was lying at the bottom of the ocean. Whilst in the boat, we passed the spots where the Battleship U.S.S Oklahoma capsized, killing 420 soldiers and the U.S.S Nevada was beached, taking 60 lives. Both ships were resurfaced later on.
The Arizona memorial looked more like a bridge in the middle of the water. It was white and in shape of a rectangle with the American flag in the centre. Again, it wasn’t what I had expected. I thought it would be much larger in scale. When we stepped onto the memorial, I was quite reserved. The film still had a great effect on me it seemed. I was observing everything around me and the actions of other people. Many were taking photographs and leaning over the railing to see the remains of the ship. I walked to the back of the memorial where a red reef was standing in the middle of the room. Behind the reef, engraved into the large marble wall was the list of the soldier’s names that were killed on the ship. Below the names was the following inscription “To the memory of the Gallant men here entombed and their shipmates who gave their lives in action on December 7, 1941 on the U.S.S. Arizona”.
Walking away from the memorial wall, I then came across the glass floor, which allows you to view the brown rustic steel remains of the ship. The water was a green color and you could see fish swimming about. I started to feel sick. The place was incredibly eerie and I could only think of the 1,177 screaming men who were trapped in the ship, burning alive or drowning. I felt myself going white, so I went to the railing to get some air. Over the railing, I could see more of the ship underwater. It was extremely sad. I overheard a tour guide saying that you can still see oil bubbles coming to the surface from down below. I don’t pray often, but looking at the ships remains underwater I did. I said thank you, as I felt so fortunate to be alive at 25, for when some of these men who died were as young as 17.
After about 30 minutes at the memorial we got back onto the boat and headed to shore. As we went further and further away from the memorial, I looked back at it one last time. A spot where bodies rest, and that shall be there forever for our future generations to remember the torture and loss which is caused by war and greed.
Hickam Airfield and U.S.S Missouri
Once we got back to shore, we hopped back on the bus and drove through Hickam airfield, passing by the original watchtower. You could see the bullet scars visible on the walls. We continued onto the Battleship U.S.S Missouri.
Stepping off the bus and looking up at the ship, it was absolutely gigantic. We had to climb three flights of stairs just to get onto the deck of the ship. However, once up top you could view Pearl Harbor entirely. The U.S.S Missouri, is the world-famous Battleship, nicknamed the "Mighty Mo". It is berthed on Battleship row in Pearl Harbor and was converted into a museum on January 29, 1999. This ship is famous for it was the very ship that Gen. Douglas MacArthur accepted the unconditional surrender of the Japanese on September 2, 1945 that ended World War II.
U.S.S Missouri is the youngest of the four Iowa class battleships built by the United States. These battleships were extensively upgraded several times during their half-century of naval service. During World War II, Missouri participated in the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, screened task force 58 during air strikes against Japan and served as Admiral William F. Halsey’s flagship. During the Korean War, she supported the Inchon landings, provided support for the evacuation of Hungnam and conducted extensive shore bombardment of North Korea.
The tour of the battleship was mesmorising and interactive. We walked the decks and saw inside the ship, viewing the wardroom, mess hall, library, post office and living quarters of how the crew served and lived on board the ship. Although the most surreal moment, was when we stood at the very spot where the Japanese signed the Instrument of surrender. In this spot lies a heavy bronze plaque bolted on the deck scripted “Over this spot on 2nd September 1945, the instrument of formal surrender of Japan to the allied powers was signed thus bringing to a close the second world war. This ship at that time was at anchor in Tokyo Bay”.
It is funny, when you have expectations of what you think something is going to be and it turns out completely different. Hawai’i is such a beautiful place, as they say a place of paradise. Standing on the deck of the U.S.S Missouri, which overlooked the U.S.S Arizona memorial, the very spot of the end and start of the pacific war. But what did the world go through to get to the end.
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific
The National Cemetery was the last stop on the tour. It is in this cemetery that the remains of the first casualties on the attack of Pearl Harbor were interred. The Honolulu Memorial on the northwest end was constructed to honor the service, achievements, and sacrifices of the men and women who served in the Pacific during World War II, the Korean Conflict and the Vietnam War.The cemetery is one of the most visited special attractions in the State of Hawaii it also houses the memorial to U.S. astronaut Ellison Onizuka of Hawaii who perished aboard the Challenger space shuttle and the Unknown Soldier killed in the Pearl Harbor attack.
The cemetery is set within the crater of an extinct volcano known to Oahu's residents as "Punchbowl" because of its shape. The crater was once known to Hawaiians as Puowaina, or "the hill for placing of sacrifices." It is for this reason that the street leading to the memorial is also called Puowaina. The memorial was very clean. The grass was bright green and the gardens were landscaped immaculately. Monkey pod trees were scattered through the graves, providing shade and a nice breeze. You could see the entire Honolulu city, Waikiki beach and Diamond Head from the cemetery, the view was beautiful.
The U.S.S Bowfin Submarine, was decommissioned on December 1, 1971 and permanently installed in Pearl Harbor. The submarine is open to visitors, allowing you to go inside and view where the 80-man crew worked, ate and slept whilst on patrol during World War II and the Korean War. Looking inside the submarine, I felt a little uneasy due to the confined space. I couldn’t believe or fathom how 80 men were inside this small vessel, breathing the same air, working and spending days and weeks 650 feet (approx 200 meters) underwater. The submarine was nicknamed the “Pearl Harbor Avenger” as it was launched a year after the attack and is personified as a she. The U.S.S Bowfin is a Balao-class submarine named after the Bowfin, a fresh water fish of the eastern United States. This underwater vessel amazingly sunk 44 enemy ships during the course of her extraordinary war patrols. She completed nine war patrols operating from the Netherlands East Indies to the Sea of Japan and the waters south of Hokkaido. A vessel that certainly surpassed its expectations of retaliation.
