Pacific Adventure - Part 13

A Memorable Memorial Day

My third and final day in Hawaii was Memorial Day. Appropriately, I had planned a morning visit to the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. That would give me enough time to get back to the hotel to check out and head to the Honolulu Airport for the last leg of my trip back home.

Arriving at Pearl Harbor early in the morning, our tour group was just in time to witness the official Memorial Day ceremonies. After several musical selections by the Navy Jazz Ensemble, an opening prayer, and the presentation of dignitaries, the keynote address was delivered by the Admiral in charge of the Naval Base. His moving talk was on the sacrifices that families have made on behalf of our country, focusing on brothers, fathers and sons, and other relatives who served and, in some cases, died together. Key among them is the story of the five Sullivan brothers who lobbied hard, early in World War II, to be allowed to serve on the same ship and who were all killed when their ship was sunk by the Japanese. Their memory lives on in the latest United States Navy vessel to carry the name "The Sullivans."

After the ceremony, the Arizona Memorial was opened to groups of 100 visitors at a time. Efficiently guided by National Park Service rangers, our group quickly made its way to view a 30-minute film on the attack on Pearl Harbor and then to board the Navy launch that would take us out to the Memorial itself.

The Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor

Once inside the Memorial, we quietly looked out the openings at the sections of the Arizona that were visible under the calm, blue waters and then made our way to the rear, where the wall is covered by white marble with the names of those who died aboard the ship engraved in black. The dedication plaque reads "To the memory of the gallant men here entombed and their shipmates who gave their lives in action on December 7, 1941 on the USS Arizona."

Remains of the USS Arizona

I couldn't help thinking back to my visit a few days earlier to Banzai Cliff on Saipan and thinking that here I had switched places, and perhaps sentiments, with the few Japanese visitors who where in the group. But, in the back of my mind were words I had heard earlier in the film we had seen. At ceremonies commemorating the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, then-President Bush had commented that this was not a time to make recriminations about what had happened 50 years earlier, but to celebrate the fact that the terrible cost of World War II eventually led to a free and democratic Japan and to a close and lasting friendship between the two nations that had fought so fiercely during the War. With that sentiment, I bid "aloha" to Pearl Harbor and to Hawaii.

My flight left Honolulu in the late afternoon and continued non-stop to Atlanta, arriving just before sunrise the next day. A couple hours later, I was on my last 3-hour flight to St. Thomas.

Aloha, Hawaii

After 3 weeks away from home, I was glad to be back home with my wife and family. But, I'll always remember my first Pacific adventure. There are still many exotic tropical islands out there to visit, including longer stops in the Federated States of Micronesia, and first-time visits to the Republic of Palau and to American Samoa. And I'm ready for another Pacific adventure.

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Last Updated: January 1, 2003