Hawaii Day 2 - Pearl Harbor

We left the Coconut Waikiki hotel after enjoying our breakfast. We are still very much on Iowa time so no sleeping in for us. Our timed entry tickets to Pearl Harbor were at 11:00 am so we explored a bit by hitting up the nearest city beach. 

 I think we mentioned don't get wet, but apparently it was irresistible. It also lightly rained while we were there, which led to the following picture.

 First all out cry-fest in paradise. Dallas was wet up to his undies, mad at us because he was wet, not wanting to walk back to the car (where we could fix the fact that he was wet) and then it was raining so he would get wet if we walked to the car.  Clearly all Robert and I could do was laugh about this. I guess you still have to parent on vacation. We left temptation and headed for Pearl Harbor

Visiting the site is free, but you can request timed entry (ie, don't have to wait in line) two months before the date. This feature cost $3/person and then I added on the audio tour. We had heard the night before on the HI news that the Arizona was closed for pedestrians because the Navy had noticed a crack a few days prior and they were still determining the safety of the Memorial. I knew there was a chance we would not be able to go on the Arizona Memorial and had prepped everyone for that. The Navy controls the boats to and from and it is completely weather dependent. We were able to take the boats out, but not dock and be allowed to step on the Memorial. Weeks later I guess they decided the cracks were quite substantial and the Memorial is closed until they find a fix. 

 There are a few ships in the Harbor today. We didn't tour The tour explained where each ship was at the time of the surprise attack.
The attack began at 7:55 am, there were 8 US battleships in Harbor lined up on battleship row. By complete luck none of our aircraft carriers were in harbor even though 3 were assigned to be there. The Japanese attacked with 353 planes in two waves aiming for the ships at the Naval base and planes at Hickman Airfield. No subs or oil storage areas were harmed. Six of the battleships returned to service and helped with WWII. The Arizona was sunk in large because a bomb reached the ammunition room and it exploded.

During the attack, the Nevada left its berth in Battleship Row and tried to make it to the harbor entrance. After being repeatedly attacked on its way, the Nevada beached itself as to not block the entry way to the channel, this boosted moral.  .I found this amazing!!!

2,343 men were killed, 1,272 were wounded and 960 left missing. A total of 2,335 U.S. servicemen were killed and 1,143 were wounded. Sixty-eight civilians were also killed and 35 were wounded

We also learned the we did see the Japanese coming on radar. The first lieutenant on duty (on the North part of the island, not at Pearl Harbor)  indicated he saw a large blip 132 miles away and fast approaching. They decided not to worry about it, thinking it was a batch of US B-17 bombers due in from California. In reality it was the first batch of 180 planes launched Japanese carriers out in the Pacific. 

Dallas is extra interested in Pearl Harbor as he shares a his birthday with this "day that lives in infamy" If you have ever been to the islands you will notice that many Asian people vacation there. I would say we were part of the 10% Caucasian people touring that morning. After watching a 15 minute documentary that put the country of Japan in a dismal light, Dallas asked me how all they (the Asian, which might not have been Japanese) could come here and see this and if they felt sorry. It was an insightful question, and we are not at war with Japan, and they have been our Allies for many years.

 This was the speech the President gave to the nation. I loved the mark-ups. 

 This is enormous in real life

I could go on and on, it was fascinating. We only did the Arizona and Harbor tour. We didn't take time to go to Ford Island or board the battleship Missouri, or the Bowfin submarine or the Pacific Aviation Museum. Time is literally money when you are on Hawaii. I knew Robert would especially like to see the Aviation Museum, but he has likely seen most of those aircraft at other times, and we have all been on a couple battleships, so I planned only a brief visit. We could have spent 12 hours seeing it all. The beach calls!!!