The USS Arizona lies in Pearl Harbor where it had sunk. The memorial is built over the ship, and visitors have to take a minute long trip on a boat to the memorial. The USS Arizona and the USS Utah are able to be seen by visitors because the remains of the ship lay on two different sides of the harbor. The USS Oklahoma had huge hole, and sunk a few miles from its brother ships. The memorial for the USS Arizona is the only one I saw, but it was such a nice experience because the memorial is a truly beautiful. If you closely into the harbor, you can see the oil that has continuously leaked from the ship for 75 years, and there is no way of knowing when it will ever stop.
The memorial is seen as a sacred site in honor of all the people who died on December 7, 1941. For survivors of the USS Arizona, when they die they have the option to have scuba divers put their ashes into the sunken ship. Currently, there are only six veterans from this ship alive. On this sign, it talks about how when the divers put the ashes into the ship, it's like the soldiers are returning home to their fellow soldiers.
At the memorial, there is a list of all the people who died on the day of the attack from all the ships. The whole wall is filled, and it has the first initial and last name of the soldiers.
Pearl Harbor also has two museums about World War II, and the involvement of the United States during the war. Also, the museums had artifacts from the ships, letters from soldiers, old uniforms, stories, and so much more. It's like walking into a time capsule of this event, and it's so interesting. I loved reading about the people who gave their lives to their country. Also, going to the memorial and the museum made me more connected to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and it made everything more real. There's a difference between reading about an event, and actually seeing the faces of the fallen, and the place where it happened.
Other Pictures from Honolulu ( Oahu):
Honolulu is so far away from New York, but once I go to the Island I was so happy. It seems like everyone is just so happy and friendly. Oahu is the most populated island of Hawaii, and is filled with tourists from the mainland and Japan.
I lived for all the fruit that was accessible to me in Hawaii. All the fruit is so fresh, and almost everywhere has at least one smoothie option. For breakfast one morning I had a pitaya (dragon fruit) smoothie bowl with strawberries, bananas, mangoes, coconut shavings, and blueberries.
My family and I went on a bus tour around Honolulu, and the views were spectacular. I also got to see the veterans cemetery that is filled war heroes, celebrities, known and unknown soldiers. Hawaii is a place with such a rich history, and I was so glad to be able to experience it.
Right when I took this photo, the tour guide pointed out that Obama grew up in Honolulu. Since I have never been to Washington D.C, this is the closest I have been to something that is connected to the president. Although there are tons of beaches and palm trees in Hawaii, Honolulu is a metropolitan city.
If you have ever seen Hawaii 5-0, you might recognize this building... :) In reality, this is a government building, and there is an older, identical building right across from it that was also in Hawaii 5-0.
I obviously had to post some picture of me from Honolulu, so here is a picture of me when I learned how to paddle board in the lagoon at my hotel. Coincidentally, people were filming for Hawaii 5-0, when I got out of the lagoon.
On my last day in Honolulu, before I went to Maui, I went on a walk to try to get to a mountain. After walking about 1.5 miles and then realized that the mountain was very far away. The walk was very nice because of the view of the clear water and all, but since it was August, the sun was blazing hot.
I hope you liked my post about Pearl Harbor and Honolulu. This month, I will be posting about my Maui experience, but I felt it was appropriate to post about Pearl Harbor today.
xx
Christina Madeleine
Ahhh! I am so jealous, Christina! I really, really want to go to Hawaii. Hopefully I'll be able to go in the near future. Looks like you had a great time! xx
ReplyDeletehttps://guiliannamarie.blogspot.com