I have guys that I served w that died in gwot.
USS Arizona - After all this time . . .
- Thread starter CyValley
- Start date
I have two Gulf Wars to bear. I feel you. Uncle Sam taught me Arabic so I would be more effective. How proud am I?
No higher honor than to visit them.
I was just there in December. They actually request that people don’t take pictures at the memorial. Said it like 10 times and people still did it, kind of pissed me off.
Yes, Grandpa said they were delayed because of a refueling misshap. I believe a tow line durring refueling became entangled in one of the ships screws or something like that.
I am biased after reading this book in HS but The Big E was the most important ship in the Navy for a couple of years following Pearl Harbor and by rights should have been the surrender ship. December 7th is known as a thee USA disaster of WWII but it was a swing and a miss by the Japanese because they missed our carriers and left the support facilities mostly undamaged, The disaster was losing the Philippines. A bunch of old slow battleships weren't going to turn the tide. A small force of fleet of carriers could and did (plus the submarine fleet that gets a nod of respect at Pearl Harbor but generally not much as much credit as deserved).
BTW, I get the allure of the big battleships. HAD to check out the USS Texas when I was near Houston. Little boy me built a model of USS Iowa and USS Pennsylvania. I even saved the commemorative ship spoons of the USS Maine and USS Iowa (the 1896 one) from my mother's collection of hundreds of spoons. Everything else got dumped.
Speaking of survivors. I checked in a couple of months ago with the son of a soldier who served with my dad in Europe in WWII. Ernie is still alive at 101 and has to be the last of my dad's battalion.
My grandfather is at Arlington, on Chaplain Hill. He served in WWI.
We went to Gallipoli last fall.
I hope to go to Normandy some day.
All places that tear at your soul...so many lives lost. If you've seen the FDR memorial in DC, the words inscribed on it (before we ever got involved in WWII) sum up my feelings well:
"I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded...I have seen the dead in the mud. I have seen cities destroyed...I have seen children starving. I have seen the agony of mothers and wives. I hate war."
August 14, 1936
I, also, will be visiting the Pearl Harbor memorial in October with a group of friends. We will be in Hawaii for 2 weeks and this is what I’m looking forward to the most. My Dad was a WWII vet (Army) and was in the Battle of the Bulge.
We took a guided tour of Gettysburg a few years ago with a Civil War history buff. We learned so much from him, and it was just him & us so we were able to take our time at the different emplacements to read the info, and try to picture the battles.
If you are doing the self guided tour at Pearl, spend the $14 for the audio guided tour. It adds a lot of context to what you are seeing, with testimonials from the guys who were there.
I've been there twice. First time was a work trip and took my wife to Hawaii last year for our 35th anniversary. I already had checked it off my bucket list the first time and it was on hers. I could spend a few days there going through everything. I've always been into the Pacific War history.
First time coworker and I just went in the afternoon just to check the place out. We ran into a guide and he started conversing with us. He then asked if we wanted tickets for the next day. We asked why he offered us tickets and he said that were dressed business casual and did not look like tourist. Passes back in 2017 when we went sold out fast! We came back the next morning and spent half the day doing the memorial and a tour. I would like to go back and go through the Missouri.
First time coworker and I just went in the afternoon just to check the place out. We ran into a guide and he started conversing with us. He then asked if we wanted tickets for the next day. We asked why he offered us tickets and he said that were dressed business casual and did not look like tourist. Passes back in 2017 when we went sold out fast! We came back the next morning and spent half the day doing the memorial and a tour. I would like to go back and go through the Missouri.
The Missouri is awesome but you probably see 25% or less of the ship. That’s all they let you see. I could spend days there going through every room on every level. Those ships are amazing!
Regarding the USS Iowa, did the turret explosion do permanant damage to the ship or did they just not have the need to make the turret operational again?
I think there's a WW2 sub on site you can tour also now.
HIt up the Punch Bowl Crater while you are there! Might be the coolest memorial I have ever visited:
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My family and I lived at Pearl Harbor for 4 years when I was the Assistant Special Agent in Charge. We lived right close to the water at the entrance to Pearl Harbor. I visited the Arizona Memorial often when we had visitors in town. The office building I worked in still had bullet holes on the outside of the building.
