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A Drive Around Oahu, Hawaii
Stop 10 - Pearl Harbor
The ships that symbolize the beginning and the end of the involvement of the United States in World War II today rest at Pearl Harbor, the last stop on our tour. With the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States entered the war. The most famous casualties of that attack were the USS Arizona and the 1,177 sailors who died aboard her. The USS Arizona and her crew still lies under the waves at Pearl Harbor, and the USS Arizona Memorial was constructed in 1961 to honor their sacrifice.
Some four years later, on September 2, 1945, Japan signed the formal instrument of surrender to the Allied Powers aboard the USS Missouri, thus ending World War II. The Missouri later participated in the Korean War (1950 to 1953) and the Persian Gulf War (1991). Today, the "Big Mo," as she is affectionately known, is moored at Ford Island just a few hundred feet from the USS Arizona.
One other hero of World War II is also moored at Pearl Harbor, the submarine USS Bowfin. The Bowfin, known as the "Pearl Harbor Avenger," struck the first blow against Japan by sinking one of the support ships that participated in the attack against Pearl Harbor.
A short drive from Pearl Harbor, inside a volcanic crater that overlooks Honolulu and Pearl, is the National Memorial Cemetary of the Pacific -- otherwise known as "Punch Bowl" because of the shape of the crater. Here, servicemen and women who died in the Pacific are laid to rest. And on that solemn note, our tour bus returns use to our hotel in the Waikiki district of Honolulu. I hope you have enjoyed this virtual tour of Oahu and may have the opportunity to make a real visit someday.
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1996-2009 Arnold E.
van Beverhoudt, Jr.
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