Hawaii – Day Five Pearl Harbor

What happens when the friend you are staying with is a chaplain in the Navy??? You get the Admiral’s Tour of Pearl Harbor on your 20th anniversary!!!

Yup! We got to take a tour of the entire harbor from the boat house of the Admiral of the Pacific Fleet! We didn’t take the boat that the Presidents take when touring the harbor but we got to see them…

Most presidents take the larger boats but both Bushes took the smaller one. The first President Bush had to take the smaller boat when the larger one was being repaired. His son, when his turn came, chose to take the smaller one like his father. Nicely done, I think!

  

Waiting for the tour to begin

After our boat arrived, we watched a brief documentary on Pearl Harbor and took a tour of the model room…

The Japanese planning out the attack in a rice paddy

   

Then we left for a cruise around the harbor to the Memorial.

First stop: Sea-Based X-band Radar. The military's $900 million, 28-story-tall missile defense radar. It’s BIG!

Second stop: The USS Utah. They told us a story of one of the sailors on board who had the remains of one of his twin daughters in his locker to be taken out to sea with him for burial. The ship was sunk in the harbor and her remains went with it. Divers were unable to recover her remains, but they say she is watched over by 54 of the Navy’s finest who also went down with the ship that day!

 

The ship yards and towers…

  The entrance to Pearl Harbor…

The USS Nevada was wounded in the attack but the crew managed to get her going and headed for the entrance. When they realized they were going to be used to block the entrance to the harbor, the captain grounded the ship here…

The Mighty Mo…

  Then we reached the Memorial…

I was surprised at how many people were there…

   And even more surprised to see that it is still leaking oil over 70 years later!

Such a solemn place but what a privilege to get to be there!

Many men lost their lives here and many survivors have chosen to be interned here…

So grateful for the sacrifice they made!

me & Mo

Then it was time to go…

The USS Bowfin submarine

  

ships she sunk during the war

the Memorial & the Missouri

Aloha Stadium

back at the boathouse

When we arrived back at the boathouse I realized we had picked up a stowaway back at the Memorial. A poor little old German lady had accidentally gotten on our boat and then had no idea where she was or how to get back to her tour bus. We took pity on her and gave her a ride back to the Memorial.

Then it was time to go see the Mighty Mo!