Remember Pearl Harbor

Above, memorial wall at the USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

USS Arizona Memorial To Re-Open In March

Above, the USS Arizona Memorial in 2016. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii is to be re-opened to visitors in March.

According to the Los Angeles Times:

The USS Arizona Memorial, closed since May because of damage to a loading ramp, is expected to reopen in March. 

The Arizona is part of the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, which also has sites in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands and California’s Tule Lake Unit. 

The battleship sank in 40 feet of water during the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on the naval base, killing more than 1,170 crewmen in the bombing and subsequent explosions. More than 330 survived. 

Despite efforts to recover the bodies, more than 900 remained trapped in the ship. Work on the USS Arizona Memorial began in 1960 and was completed in May 1962. 

Until the crack was discovered, visitors were ferried to the memorial and could disembark on the structure that rests atop the ship. Oil still leaks from the sunken ship, bubbling to the surface.

Above, seeping oil rises to the surface of the sunken USS Arizona. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

To read more, go here. 

Scientific Discoveries of the Interior of the USS Arizona

Above, "tears of the Arizona" rise to the surface from the sunken ship. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It was very moving for me to see firsthand the sunken battleship USS Arizona resting on the bottom of Pearl Harbor below me from the deck of the USS Arizona Memorial.

For years, I have heard that oil still seeps to the surface from the vessel. I saw it for myself last May. They are called "the tears of the Arizona" or "black tears".

It was an experience to see the ship at rest, knowing that men are entombed inside.

Above, the USS Arizona Memorial, built over the sunken ship. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

War History Online has an interesting article on a recent ten-day survey of the interior of the ship by unmanned submersibles.

They wrote:

Clearly, the deputy chief and photographer of the National Park Service’s Submerged Resources Centre (SRC) has been touched by the latest images from the sunken battleship USS Arizona, which has lain at the bottom of Pearl Harbour since December 7, 1941. 

Brett Seymour, viewing recent images from remotely operated vehicles says the most striking find was a jacket hanging in an officer’s quarters. 

It was clean, not covered in sediment, and hadn’t fallen off the hangar. It was there, standing proud. 

Seymour was part of a team which was comprised of the NPS and National Geographic photographers that for ten days documented the interior first and second decks of the 608-foot long battleship.

Above, the deck of the USS Arizona. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

According to the article, the next step is to survey the third deck, "whenever that will be."

To read more, go here.

The Real Truth About The Pearl Harbor Attack

Above, the wall of name of those who died at the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

While in Hawaii last May, we paid a visit to Pearl Harbor. It is where the U.S. was hit by a surprise attack by Imperial Japan.

We were shuttled from the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel to Pearl Harbor by bus. There, our tour guide led us to the visitor center and distributed our tickets for the boat shuttle to the sunken U.S.S. Arizona Memorial. We toured the many exhibits at the visitor center while waiting for our appointed time for the boat shuttle.

Above, the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Japan Info has posted an article on "The Real Truth Nobody Ever Told You About the Attack on Pearl Harbor".

It begins with:

All of us know the story of Pearl Harbor. America was isolationist and wanted nothing to do with the World War II that was raging in Europe. Japan and Germany were working hand in hand to spread throughout their respective spheres of influence. A small part of the Japanese government, knowing that America was their greatest threat to spreading more into Asia, decided to attack Pearl Harbor suddenly, without warning, and totally unprovoked. America was totally caught off guard by this attack of a country they thought was a friend. That was the story I grew up hearing. But there is one problem with it… None of it is true. This is the truth of Pearl Harbor.

Above, a view of the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial from the visitor center. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I have no real disagreements with the article, although it is a tad biased in tone. But, it is historically accurate.

To read more, go here.