Hawaii - Chapter Seven

Today, I was still exhausted from the long day we had yesterday. The weather seemed to reflect my mood - it was cloudy, windy and slightly rainy all day.. bad for the beach, but perfect for touring Pearl Harbor. I visited the USS Missouri, the last battleship to be commissioned and decommissioned.

It was on board the Missouri that the Japanese Empire surrendered to the United States in Toyko Bay in August 1945. It was really neat to go onboard the ship; it gave me some perspective into what it was like for Grandpa to work on the ships when he was in the Merchant Marines.

It also helped me to realize what the USS Arizona was like. The Arizona was the ship to suffer the most damage and casualties December 7, 1941. On that day, 1,177 men died on the ship. It remains in the Harbor with its men at rest inside. The ship was full of gas and oil at the time of the strike, and to this day, 68 years later, it still leaks a quart or two of oil each day.

view of the Missouri from the Arizona Memorial - notice the oil sheen on the water

Arizona's gun turret mount

the Arizona Memorial Bridge - the ship remains under water

It was a nice restful day. I was able to tour the Memorial, finish my book, and take a wonderful nap. Only one more full day in Hawaii.. :(