Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire A somber morning

The wife and I are hanging in Oahu for about 12 days. Spent the morning going thru Pearl Harbor.

We hit the Arizona Memorial first. Hard to believe the hell-on-earth that ensued there.

Capped the morning on the USS Missouri.

Did not encounter any WW twice vets, sad they are almost all gone.

I was there on Dec. 8, 1991 and there were both Japanese Pearl Harbor Veterans that were a part of the attack and American Pearl Harbor Veterans that endured that attack for the 50th anniversary. I was conflicted about the presence of the Japanese there but I rationalized that if our men were willing to shake their hand then who was I to question it?

It is as inspirational as it is somber. America catapulted itself to victory and world dominance in a short but bloody 4 years.

I’ve been on the U.S.S Missouri when it was docked in Bremerton. I was a young boy enthralled by WWII history and mom and dad took us all over for a tour. It was pretty awesome to a young boy!

I wouldn't be bothered by Japanese vets or visitors. The vets were only doing what their gov't ordered them to do.

I invaded Iraq in '03 from the air. A bunch of us thought it was a pretty stupid idea at the time. We still went in with a get-it-done, gung ho attitude.

I cant imagine many of the Japanese in '41 were much different.

yeah, I use to go up to Bremerton often when I was stationed at Madigan back in the late 70s...

it was dry docked right next to the USS Oriskany, the aircraft carrier my dad served on after the Korean War...

Take the helicopter tour. Can see down into the water and the outlines of the sunken ships. Or we could. And other neat stuff. Climb up Diamond Head and visit the old emplacements - take water!

That said, Oahu is my least favorite of the islands. Maybe because only about half the people speak English, and I don't speak Japanese........

Been there only once, other than passing thru the airport, and that's enough.

Oh yeah- the Friday night boat ride to view the fireworks is neat. The time we went I got to visit with the then HI Governor for a couple minutes on the boat.

Democrat, but seemingly a nice guy otherwise.

Yes Sir!

Back in the good old days. Seattle was a nice city and Washington had John Spellman, our last Republican governor I believe.

yeah, Seattle was a nice city in the late 70s being an east coast kid, I thought I had died and found heaven on earth back in those days...every weekend I was off, I went all over western Washington exploring...

movies, Like Harry and the Hendersons... I could have showed you about every spot they had filmed in that movie..

My wife loved Northern Exposure... first time I saw her watching it, when the Moose walked down the street by the Roslyn Cafe, I told her I knew where that was.. she didn't believe me...first time we made a trip out to Washington, I took her right to it...

they were filming an episode that night, so she stayed up all night.. I rolled my sleeping bag out on my camper mattress from my old VW Bus, in the back of the 4 Runner and slept most of the night.. they finished filming at about 4 AM.. outside temp was near zero...wife of course want to hit the sack, have my warm sleeping bag and pillow, so I yielded it to her and we hit the road to head back to Minnesota...

use to head out on the Olympic Peninsula a lot also...I became a Camera buff up in Wash when I was on active duty.. it was so gorgeous, all ya had to do was focus the camera and push the button....compared to the east coast, almost every pic was fantastic...

Been all over the Missouri.. I was sad when it was reported to be pulling out of dry dock in Washington...but when it was later announced it was going to be going to Pearl Harbor, to be near the Arizona Memorial.. I thought that was much more befitting..

When I had to get backed to the PNW, I ended up in Southern Oregon, because Washington had gotten too crowded for my tastes...and sadly many who moved there did the state no good...

The late 70s was the last of the good years for Western Washington.. and Washington State in General...it was wonderful...

so was Hawaii in the late 70s.. twice I flew out Space available from McChord to Hickam to spend Christmas with my folks..
drove all over Oahu, having use of a free car...Got to take a VIP tour of Pearl Harbor twice out there... that was fantastic and very eye opening.. it is run by the Navy, and is for VIPS only... I got a pass to go, signed by the Admiral who was in charge of everything to do with the Navy in the Pacific & West....my mom was personal secretary for him, the Army Commander in the Pacific and the Air Force commander in the Pacific... got off the plane at Hickham, the Admiral sent over his personal staff car to pick me up.. a lowly E 4....that was interesting...that VIP tour, you circle Ford Island... and surprisingly what you think is just rocks surrounding it..are actually many of the hulls of the ships that were destroyed there during the Dec 1941 attack.. the Launch we were on, the announcer, pointed out each ships name as we passed the hull... then when the civilian park service boat leaves the Arizona Memorial, the Navy VIP tour pulls in.. and is allowed to stay longer.. it is haunting to be there to say the least...close your eyes and it is like you can hear the souls of those who are interned there....as Hawk said, it was a very solemn place...I've been to alot of memorials in my life time.. east coast, in Europe when we lived there... nothing grabs ya like the Arizona Memorial...

I was there about ten years ago. Flew there to meet my boy. I was waiting for him in front of the memorial. There wasn’t a person going in, but Japs. I rode the Pelihue from Pearl to San Diego. We could see the ships under water from the flight deck as we backed up, then headed out. Pearl Harbor is much smaller than I thought it would be. Riding on a navy ship for 8 days gave me a much better appreciation for what our navy personnel go through.

There are not many places of Honor on this earth, or truly Sacred Ground, but that is one of them....

++++ I have been to Oahu 3 times since 1985. The Arizona Memorial was visited all 3 times.

We are going in June....can't wait. My 13 year old son is WW1 and WW2 history nerd and truly wants to see this.

Lived there for six years (two separate tours). Be sure to stop at the Punchbowl cemetery. Humbling.

My wife and I have been discussing our pending vacation plans and deciding where to go this year. Been leaning towards Grand Cayman but she did mention Hawaii last night. I kinda blew it off but may have to reconsider.
I’ve always wanted to see Pearl Harbor and now that The Missouri is there, all the more reason.
Les

Pearl Harbor. Where some people did something.