Remembering Those Who Have Fallen

Have a safe Memorial Day.

Above, the USS Missouri and the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Top 5 Mistakes Families Make at Pearl Harbor

Above, the battleship USS Missouri and the USS Arizona Memorial. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Back in 2016, I visited Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Prior to the visit, I got tickets beforehand. They included the bus rides to and from Pearl Harbor. Everything went smoothly.

There are mistakes that families make at Pearl Harbor. MSN lists five and how to avoid them.

They begin with:

Planning your first family trip to Hawaii can be thrilling. There’s so much to see and do, and one must-visit spot is Pearl Harbor.

It’s not just a beautiful place—it’s a site filled with history and emotion, marking important events that changed the course of American history.

Having been to Pearl Harbor and Oahu many times, I’ve picked up on a few common mistakes families often make when visiting this historic site.

I’m here to share these insights so you can avoid them and have a memorable, respectful visit.

To read more, go here. 

Hawaii Ending Interisland Travel Quarantine June 16

Above, the battleship USS Missouri docked at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Hawaii is taking tip-toe steps in reopening the islands to tourism.

The first step is allowing interisland travel.

According to the Honolulu Civil Beat:

In a first step toward restarting the state’s largest private employment sector, Hawaii’s tourism industry will begin opening up on June 16, but only for people traveling within the state among the neighbor islands, Gov. David Ige said on Monday. 

The announcement that interisland travel will resume came as industry executives have been expressing increasing frustration about the lack of a clear plan for reopening an industry that provided about one in six jobs statewide before it was all but shut down to control the spread of COVID-19. 

In a first step toward restarting the state’s largest private employment sector, Hawaii’s tourism industry will begin opening up on June 16, but only for people traveling within the state among the neighbor islands, Gov. David Ige said on Monday. 

The announcement that interisland travel will resume came as industry executives have been expressing increasing frustration about the lack of a clear plan for reopening an industry that provided about one in six jobs statewide before it was all but shut down to control the spread of COVID-19.

To read more, go here.

Battleship Missouri Memorial

Above, the USS Missouri docked at Pearl Harbor. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii is home to the battleship USS Missouri (BB-63), the ship where Japan signed the documents of surrender in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945.

Compared to the USS Arizona, the USS Missouri is a newer warship.

According to the Battleship Missouri Memorial website:

Born in the midst of World War II, the shipyard workers at Brooklyn’s New York Navy Yard constructed the battleship in time for her launch on January 29, 1944 and commissioning as the USS Missouri on June 11, 1944 with Capt. William M. Callaghan in command.

Two daily tours of the USS Missouri are offered daily:

The Battleship Missouri Memorial offers two daily tours with much more to explore on your own. The main tour is included in your General Admission ticket and takes you to the exact spot where WWII ended and is fully ADA accessible. The second is called "The Heart of the Missouri" tour and takes you deep inside the inner workings of the ship including the engine rooms and gun turrets. This tour is not ADA accessible and is not open to children under 10.

There were concerns about having the Missouri docked near the Arizona.

Above, the USS Missouri and the USS Arizona Memorial. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

According to Wikipedia:

Originally, the decision to move Missouri to Pearl Harbor was met with some resistance. The National Park Service expressed concern that the battleship, whose name has become synonymous with the end of World War II, would overshadow the battleship Arizona, whose dramatic explosion and subsequent sinking on 7 December 1941 has since become synonymous with the attack on Pearl Harbor. To help guard against this impression Missouri was placed well back from and facing the Arizona Memorial, so that those participating in military ceremonies on Missouri's aft decks would not have sight of the Arizona Memorial. The decision to have Missouri's bow face the Arizona Memorial was intended to convey that Missouri watches over the remains of Arizona so that those interred within Arizona's hull may rest in peace.

For more information on visiting the Battleship Missouri Memorial, go here.