February 19-20, 2024
John and I visited Hawaii for our honeymoon in 1998. We did the luau, the beaches, but not The Arizona – that felt too “deep” for a honeymoon. So this time, we visited the National Monument. We didn’t go online at the right time – the Arizona requires timed tickets to take the ferry to the memorial, so we purchased a tour. We were among the first off of the Serenade that morning to make it to the tour’s meeting point in time.
Our driver/guide, Richard, checked off every box for ADHD – very hyper, and every time we drove by a dog he called out “Puppy!!!” – mid sentence, described the breed – then would continue his sentence.
He was extremely informative, but occasionally jarring. He proudly discussed the statue of Duke Kahanamoku, the first Hawaiian to win a gold medal in the Olympics – and his great-great uncle.
The city tour pointed out the major buildings, including the palace and the golden statue of King Kamehameha, who had united the Hawaiian Islands.
Then to the Memorial. The grounds honor US Naval seamen and women who have fallen across the world, honoring the bravery of those who served during WWII. A circular path dotted with markers honored the ships and crew that fought, many of which sank or were later decommissioned, and noted any lives lost.
I had never thought about the older ships in service at the start of the war, built in the 1910’s and 20’s, many without radar, and amazed at how effective they could be with the right commanders.
The museum of the pre-war era highlighted the efforts the US put forth to avoid war, including a letter to the Emperor of Japan dated December 6, 1941.
And then the day. Japanese Admiral Yamamoto started to plan the attack in 1940 (based on a 1925 book called “The Great Pacific War”) while the US continued to engage in negotiations to try to avoid war. On December 7, the Japanese success was aided by miscommunications and misidentifications on the part of those staffing the radar in Pearl Harbor, thinking the incoming Japanese fighters were a group of US B-17 bombers (which did arrive during the attack). Oahu did not just have the navy, but five airfields (Hickam Field, Wheeler Field, Ford Island Naval Air Station, Bellows Field and Ewa Marine Corps Station)– where the planes sat parked in neat lines: row by row, nose to nose (except for a pair of pilots that had returned late the Saturday night before and hid their planes behind some brush, and were among the few fighter planes that made it into the air that day). The Americans thought that Pearl Harbor was too shallow for torpedoes dropped from the air, so did not deploy torpedo nets. This would have been true for the older kind, yes, but not for new ones the Japanese developed. The warships – many tied together – were as vulnerable as the proverbial fish in a barrel. There were two waves of the attack, the first was the most devastating as those at the bases were enjoying a “pleasant Sunday morning”. By the second wave, every available gun – including those on ships already severely damaged, were pointed at the sky, bringing down 29 and damaging another 100 Japanese planes. The US lost 18 ships, 188 planes, 2,335 servicemen and women, and 68 civilians (many by “friendly fire”) in the two hours of the attack. All three of the US aircraft carriers the Japanese thought would be in port were out to sea.
The memorial to the Arizona provides a reflective and beautiful place to honor those who died – on that day and since, remembering those that made “the ultimate sacrifice” and those who have chosen to have their ashes join their brothers in the rusting remains of the battleship. The markers spread out around the harbor, marking where the other 17 ships now lay in the bottom of the harbor, their skeletons providing habitat for coral and small fish, as they gradually become part of the seabed around them.
A personal aside: And as we honor our dead, and are proud of the feats of the ships and our troops, we must also remember that the ships the US destroyed and sank also contained men and women who were sons, spouses and loved ones, caught up in a war not of their choosing. The side you are on based upon your place of birth. We should honor our fallen, but never glory in the fall of others.
After our sober start to Honolulu, we did proceed to more relaxed pursuits, and went to Waikiki. With the exception of a few of the large (and extremely expensive) hotel bars, there aren’t many places to get a beer on the beach. The Mai Tai bar at The Royal Hawaiian (where the Mai Tai was “invented”) – glasses of wine start at $14 and the original 1944 Mai Tai costs $18. Pricey just for a drink with a sea view. Instead, we opted for coffees at the Barefoot Beach Café (both for $8 – still a lot for a 2 cups of coffee).
Our evening with friends, celebrating Alan’s Birthday, started at Patrick’s Bar by the Aloha Tower where we watched the sunset before continuing to J. Dolan’s for a wonderful dinner.
Not much is open after 10PM in the Chinatown area on a Monday night, so we had to end the night sooner than planned.
The next morning, John and I wandered the aforementioned Chinatown,
found a few more supplies, and enjoyed lunch at an Irish Bar & Grill called Murphy’s (we had wanted to go for Alan’s dinner but it was closed on Mondays). We returned to the ship and had to say “aloha” to Hawaii.
Next stop – Moorea in French Polynesia!