We took a shuttle bus to Pearl Harbour this morning to see the famous USS Arizona Memorial site and museum. I have not seen the film and did not know much about what happened at Pearl Harbour so we opted for the audio tour to learn as much as possible. The tour was narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis; her Dad Tony Curtis was at Pearl harbour on December 7th 1941(the day of the attack), you can also listen to some of the survivors sharing their experiences and memories of the horrific event. It was a really informative tour but very sad, a must see if you visit Oahu.
Part of the tour was a boat ride to the Arizona memorial platform which was built over the USS Arizona battleship in 1960. This ship was hit the hardest and most crew members died with over 900 of them still entombed in the ship today. Nearly all of the other ships were raised and repaired but the Arizona was too damaged. The water is shallow so the platform enables you to see the top deck of the ship and gun turretts, there is also a shrine with the names of everyone inside. Many of the survivors have chosen to have their ashes taken down inside the ship so they can rest in peace with their brothers and friends.
The tour explained what provoked the Japanese to attack at Pearl Harbour killing over 2,400 people and how this brought the US into World War 2. What happened that day was obviously terrible for both the US armed forces and the Hawaiian natives but if it hadn’t happened, the US probably wouln’t have gotten involved in the war and we could all now be speaking German.
