Oahu (Honolulu), Hawaii

The theme for today was solemn reflection. We signed up for an Excursion to Pearl harbor. We chose to change our time from the early morning tour to the last one of the day because I had purchased tickets to visit the USS Arizona Memorial which the Viking excursion did not include.
Our tour guide for the bus ride to Pearl Harbor was the best guide we have ever had on any tour. He had a video presentation on the bus's monitors. He was knowledgeable and very easy to understand. I only wish all of our bus rides were this informative and enjoyable.
We arrived at Pearl Harbor around noon and went to see if we could get on the boat to the USS Arizona earlier because if we waited for the time I had reserved, we would miss the bus back to the ship and would have had to catch a cab.
After being told that we should just watch the length of the standby line and that it was a good probability that we could get an earlier boat, we got in line to watch the film about the events of December 7, 1941. The film was outstanding and also very sobering.
While we were watching the film, the weather changed and it started raining. We exited the theater into a tropical rain shower.
As we were seeking shelter so our cameras would not get wet, we saw that the standby line was almost non-existent. So we jumped in line and were immediately ushered into another theater. We were privileged to hear a Park Ranger tell a story about a member of United States Navy and a Japanese bomber pilot who met at Pearl Harbor and reconciled. It was such a an appropriate introduction before we headed to the USS Arizona as we all could have been focused on the atrocities that were perpetrated by the Japanese. We were now focused on forgiveness.
We boarded the boat which would take us to the USS Arizona Memorial By the time we actually arrived at the Memorial, we were drenched. We viewed the USS Arizona from the Memorial and viewed the wall of names of those who lost their lives and were still entombed in the USS Arizona.
One of my great uncles was in the USS Arizona so this was a personally impactful.
After the solemn visit, we returned by bus to the ship.Read more