Worth remembering

This afternoon, I took advantage of the opportunity to take a break from work and joined my brother (Andrew) and sister-in-law (Jessica) and Jessica's brother's family (did you get all that?) in a trip to the Arizona Memorial. I've been to the Arizona many times, but I never get tired of it, for I love anything having to do with American History. This was taken from the ferry on the way to the Arizona.


This is the far wall of the memorial, where the names of those who died on the Arizona are etched. There were 23 sets of brothers and a father/son duo. It's called the shrine room, and needless to say, people are always speechless when they enter.




When you're standing on one side of the Memorial, this is the view, which is the #3 Gun Turret from the ship. Because Pearl Harbor is so shallow, the ship is basically sitting upright, with its deck just a couple of feet below the surface. They actually removed the mast, other turrets -- anything sticking out of the water after the sinking. The white buoy out there marks the end of the bow.


You can see the oil that continues to leak from the innards of the Arizona. Over 1,000 men are entombed within the ship below.

There's a hole in the middle of the Memorial, so you can look straight down below. You can see how close to the surface the ship really is.

From the back of the Arizona Memorial, you can see the USS Missouri, the ship upon which the Japanese unconditonally surrendered to Gen. MacArthur. It is also a non-profit museum available for tours. To the right, you see those white blocks that mark where other ships were anchored on Dec. 7, 1941. The one on the far right was the USS Tennessee and the USS Oklahoma was on the left.


This is the USS Bowfin, a bonafide WW2 U.S. submarine available for touring. The causeway you see on the right-hand side is what will take you to Ford Island, where the Missouri is docked. ER fanatics may remember when Mark Green drove across it to show his daughter his childhood home. This bridge wasn't built until after I was in college, and ferries were the only mode of transportation.


A Japanese one-man suicide torpedo sub.

If you ever find yourself in Hawaii on vacation, Pearl Harbor is an absolute must.





A picture of my niece, Brittany (3) and I at the visitor's center. Brittany was told that they are moving to Arizona this summer, so when the introductory movie started up, Brittany announced "hey, they said Arizona!" It was cute, but not the best time to make an announcement. I wanted to post this picture to show how fried I look lately, just so you don't think I'm exaggerating:)



A picture of my niece Allison (1), who seems to be changing every time I see her. She's just the most cherubic baby with the prettiest eyes. This really has nothing to do with the Arizona except that it was taken as we were waiting in line. And, she's just too cute not to share.