Pearl Harbor remembered

It's hard to believe that there are some places where holidays don't apply. For instance, I started thinking about Hawaii (after hearing that Ira and June won a trip thataway) and my many trips there in the early 1990's. In case you didn't know (!) they don't get a "white Christmas", nor do the blokes on the beaches of Australia, for that matter.

The first time I was in Hawaii (about 1986), I didn't know how many chances I'd have to see it, so .. I made a trip to Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial. I'd heard the good advice about going early in the day, so I didn't have to wait several hours for the orchestrated tour. Unless they've changed it .. you first are herded into a small theatre where the history of the 7 December 1941 attack is shown in a brief film. Then, your group boards a skiff for the journey to the Memorial, which straddles the battleship (still leaking oil, some 50+ years later). It was a somber visit, accentuated by the wall of 1,177 names at the far end. As you crane your neck up to read the list, you get a feeling for how many sailors are still below you, entombed in that hulk. It was very quiet and respectful. Afterwards, I made my way to Punchbowl (the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific) which has an inspiring view of modern day Honolulu. The road to Punchbowl is curved and narrow, barely able to handle the large tour buses that ferry visitors there.

I returned to the USS Arizona Memorial in 1990, and was not happy that day. A large crowd of Japanese tourists were there, taking pictures and laughing as if this were a joyous retreat. It was not the somber scene that I recalled from a few years earlier. At the time, I thought the only thing more inappropriate than their laughter would have been if they'd brought red-and-white checked tablecloths to spread onto the memorial for a fried chicken lunch. I'm not the kind of guy to cause a scene, and had hoped the tour guides would've told them to stifle the laughter, but .. that didn't happen. I never returned to the Memorial.