Pearl Harbor

At 7.55 a.m. on Sunday 7 December 1941, the first of two waves of Japanese aircraft began their surprise & deadly attack on the US Pacific Fleet moored at Pearl Harbor on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu. It all happened so quickly & within two hours five battleships had been sunk, with another 16 damaged, and 188 aircraft destroyed. Only chance saved three U.S. aircraft carriers, usually stationed at Pearl Harbor but assigned elsewhere on the day. The attacks killed over 2,400 Americans, with another 1,178 injured. Today the slightly disturbing sight of the sunken wreck of the battleship USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor is a touching & insightful commemoration of those who died that day & of the tragic events which brought the US into the mire of World War II.

Saluting the fallen at the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. The memorial wall of the USS Arizona Memorial is engraved with the names of those who died on the USS Arizona when the Japanese attacked. The crowds here, even in March, are heavy – the memorial is Hawaii’s most touristed site. I hung around once the masses had gone to get a few uncluttered shots of the memorial wall. This gentleman was also waiting for the crowds to leave & when they did he showed his respects as only a veteran would. It was a truly touching moment and I’m glad I captured it. At the USS Arizona Memorial (), Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, USA. March 10, 2013.

‘A Date Which Will Live In Infamy’

– President Franklin D. Roosevelt, December 8 1941, speech asking Congress to declare war on Japan.

Visiting Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor today is still a functioning navy base & the site of several memorials honoring the fallen of the war. A visit is free but it is ticketed with limited ticket numbers available daily – tickets are given out on a first-come-first-served basis and typically run out by noon on busy days when wait times of about one hour or more are not uncommon.

The visit starts with a the viewing of an interpretive film about the attack, the build-up to it, the attack itself, & the attack aftermath.

Watching a video recapping the attack on Pearl Harbor as part of the USS Arizona Memorial visit. Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, USA. March 10, 2013 (iPod)

You then board a US Navy ferry which serves the route to and from the white marble USS Arizona Memorial, built over the hull of the sunken battleship. The somber memorial commemorates & serves as the final resting place for many of the 1,177 servicemen who died on the doomed ship itself.

Approaching the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor on an overcast Hawaiian day. Oahu, Hawaii, USA. March 10, 2013.

Windswept & wet inside the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, USA. March 10, 2013.

Oil still seeps from a submerged section of the USS Arizona over 71 years after the Pearl Harbor attack. Oahu, Hawaii, USA. March 10, 2013.