Pearl Harbor Day

[SteveR]

Lest we forget, today is Pearl Harbor day. My thoughts are with all those that died this day in 1941.

 

[Nords]

Here's two local articles with more links:

Only one ceremony at Pearl Harbor this year--
http://starbulletin.com/2005/12/07/news/story01.html

Not all of the USS ARIZONA is underwater (Daniel Martinez quoted)-- http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051207/NEWS08/512070346

 

[Texas Proud]

Yes, thanks to all that gave their lives so we can live as we do.

 

[unclemick]

Ditto.

 

[Outtahere]

Nords, thank you for the link, I was especially impressed with the one about the pieces of the Arizona.

And my thanks to all those that died that day and the others that continued on to defend our homeland.

 

[REWahoo]

I've only visited the Arizona Memorial once, in 1974 when I was in the military and passing through returning from SE Asia. For me it was a very somber and haunting place, as I read the names of the dead and watched the oil still rising to the surface from the rusting ship below.

One other thing really stood out on my visit. We saw Japanese tourists everywhere we went...until we got on the boat to the Memorial. They were consppicuously absent from that particular Hawaiian point of interest.

 

[Nords]

I've only visited the Arizona Memorial once, in 1974 when I was in the military and passing through returning from SE Asia.  For me it was a very somber and haunting place, as I read the names of the dead and watched the oil still rising to the surface from the rusting ship below.

One other thing really stood out on my visit.  We saw Japanese tourists everywhere we went...until we got on the boat to the Memorial.  They were consppicuously absent from that particular Hawaiian point of interest.

The oil still bubbles up. The Navy's local diving & salvage unit surveys the wreck with the Natl Park Svc every few years and they say there's still some left. When the ship collapses it's gonna be messy, but there's no way to remove the oil without disturbing the remains.

The Japanese tourism has definitely changed. Especially during high season, some mornings the tour buses will drop off enough people to form a line over 100 yards long... almost entirely Japanese visitors.

 

[Eagle43]

First time I went to Arizona Memorial, I eagerly posed on one side of an anchor they have there. When we developed the photo, a smiling Japanese woman was on the other side. I'd be curious to know if they go to that Memorial on this specific day.

 

[Nords]

First time I went to Arizona Memorial, I eagerly posed on one side of an anchor they have there.  When we developed the photo, a smiling Japanese woman was on the other side.  I'd be curious to know if they go to that Memorial on this specific day.

It got a little tense in 1991 (50th anniversary) with George Bush in town. Typical policy-- submarine topside sentries were allowed to carry their sidearms as usual (unloaded) but were warned that unholstering their weapons would result in Secret Service sniper fire. There was talk about restricting the ceremony to "American only" but cooler heads prevailed. There were lots of positive stories about Japanese-American reconciliation among the veterans.

Mitsuo Fuchida, the Japanese aviator who led the attack, made tremendous strides after the war in bringing veterans together. He even told GEN Tibbets that attacking with nuclear weapons was the right thing to do.

24 Pearl Harbor survivors attended yesterday's ceremony and the remains of two USS ARIZONA veterans were interred on the ship.

I've been by there on several Dec 7s and if anything the crowds seem to have more Japanese visitors. It's not as intense an experience as the Vietnam Memorial but it can still get pretty emotional. Perhaps they see it as a chance to learn more about their grandparents' experiences or as a sort of atonement. Or maybe they're just sucked up into the massive marketing campaign & cheap transportation...