Blue Hawaii

Today marks the 66th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

My wife and I had the opportunity to vacation in Hawaii a few years ago. We had a very good travel agent that figured out a way to have us visit two islands for less then it would have cost to stay on one island.

On our first day in Hawaii, we went on a tour of Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial. It was very moving and eerie. When you see how the hills and the harbor are laid out, it is clear that the majority of ships in the harbor at the time of the attack were sitting ducks. Any torpedo dropped into the harbor had a very high probability of hitting a ship.

Two things stuck me when visitng the USS Arizona Memorial. First, the ship is still leaking oil. That is amazing after all of these years. Second, there is a list of all of the sailors entombed in the sunken Arizona. One could see that some of the names on the wall were recently added. These were USS Arizona crewmen that survived the attack. They expressed a desire to be buried with their fellow USS Arizona crewmen upon death. The Navy has honored the requests.

My wife and I enjoyed the trip to Hawaii, but we would not go back. The trip is too far. If someone is going to spend that much time in a plane, it makes more sense to us to go to Europe. However, everyone should try to visit Hawaii once. If you do, a trip to Pearl Harbor is a must.