Pearl Harbor

April 05, 2014

When I was first told I would be going to Hawaii, the first place that popped into my head was Pearl Harbour. I had to see this museum and monument and learn more about what happened that fateful day. The more I learn about the wars that shaped our world, the more aware I feel I become about keeping the peace and what is important.

We chose the Passport ticket option from one website. For $65, you have access to all four museums on site at the memorial. The USS Arizona museum is filled with educational and informative tidbits - the audio tour guide is a great way to experience the museum and really feel the emotion and heartbreak that the survivors, to this day, felt. Not only does the tour give you facts about the events leading up to, and including, the bombing by Japan, but actual stories are told, bringing those few hours to life once again. Walking through the museum in my own world, listening to the tour, I was overcome by emotions that I didn't really expect. I was saddened by the loss of lives but also by the deception and deceit that the Japanese brought to the history of the war. I didn't realize they were also so possessed with gaining world power - had the Germans and Japanese won that war, how very different, and awful, our world would be.

The USS Arizona Memorial sits respectfully above the sunken ship, protecting the soldiers who still lay entombed within. For such a simple memorial, its impact is huge. Watching the oil seep slowly into the water, hearing the men talk about seeing their comrades and partners just disappear in the blink of an eye, I felt heartbroken myself. While the museum and memorial are very US-centric, as a Canadian, I feel that it symbolizes all the war, hate, and fighting that our Canadian soldiers have had to endure, along with the suffering and pain the survivors continue to feel.

The USS Bowfin is a small submarine open to tourists. It's not a long walk through the sub, but you get this fantastic idea about how cramped and regimented life must be like to live and work on one of these for months at a time! Bryan says that the very fact that every process and system is so well-planned and engrained in each inhabitant excites him - the military epitomizes lean thinking!

We also traveled by bus to the USS Missouri, the last functional battleship that the Americans built. Understanding that air combat was the future (from the very fact that Pearl Harbour and the island were destroyed), the Americans began building aircraft carrier ships instead. It's also the ship where the Japanese signed the final surrender, ending World War II for good, on September 2, 1945.

"Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always. These proceedings are closed!" General MacArthur

Nothing compares to the sheer magnitude of a military battleship! Sleeping and eating quarters gradually decline in space and luxury as you pass from the Captain's rank down the lowly sailors. Pathways, hidden doors, and massive amounts of gears, controls, and piping are everywhere. I find these ships a wonderful place for exploration, as well as a great education on history. As someone with an eye for design, I love to examine the ship and wonder how someone figured out where to put each component for the maximum impact.

Pearl Harbour is worth the time and money - it's an historical monument to a horrible time in our lives, and reminds us again that it wasn't just Europe who was devastated by the wars. We need to remember the inexpressible horror of those years so that we never, ever have to go through them again!