Hawaiian Adventure Part 1: Remembering Those Lost

View from our suite at the Kahala Hotel

I just returned from a 19-day trip to Hawai'i where my sister Kathy and I spent a couple days on the "gathering place" of Oahu before heading to the Big Island for the balance of our visit.  My first journey to our 50th state took place back in 2002 when Keith and I explored Oahu, Maui, and Kauai'i.  For this most recent trip, however, Keith stayed home and just "the girls" traveled to the tropics.

This was Kathy's first time in to Hawai'i, and I decided to give her the royal treatment.  While on Oahu, we enjoyed a partial ocean view suite at the Kahala Resort and Hotel.  We might never have left the hotel; it was very quiet and very beautiful.  Not only was there a private beach for hotel guests, there was also a dolphin lagoon that four of these graceful mammals called home.

The USS Arizona as seen from Memorial Place.  The memorial is the elongated white structure on the right.  The architect designed the sagging middle to denote a great loss followed by the upcurving ends of the structure which signify victory and peace.

No one should come to Oahu without visiting the USS Arizona Memorial.  I find this place quite special and emotionally moving.  When an armor-piercing bomb struck through her deck on December 7, 1941, igniting the forward ammunition magazine, the USS Arizona battleship exploded and sank within nine minutes.  She took 1,177 of her crew with her including 23 sets of brothers assigned to the ship.  More than 900 men remain entombed within the sunken ship.  The Memorial is a tribute to all those lost in Pearl Harbor on that "day of infamy," a total of 2,390 military personnel and 49 civilians.  In addition to the Arizona, 20 other ships were sunk or damaged.  All but the Arizona, the USS Utah, and USS Oklahoma were later recovered and salvaged.  164 aircraft were destroyed while another 159 were damaged during the Japanese bombing.

Survivors of one of the greatest losses in history of a warship were given the right to be interred with their shipmates.  As of 2008, 32 of the 334 surviving crew have made the Arizona their final resting place.  Legend has it that oil will continue to leak from the ship to the surface until all of the survivors have passed away.  Believe the lore or not, one thing is for certain: even after 72 years, oil is still coming to the surface of the harbor waters entombing the ship.

Indeed, the Memorial is a special place.  But it is not overpowered by sadness.  Instead, there is a sense of serenity and peace.




Right:  Oil continues to surface from the sunken ship even after 72 years.






Below:  A portion of the USS Arizona sits above the surface of Pearl Harbor while white markers show where other ships sank.