The 69th Anniversary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor [Archive] - Palaver - A forum for Stephen King fans & Book Collectors

mae

12-07-2010, 09:55 AM

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g0uNmMIiCiQEbkzVUbMHF0is_xRg?docId=913686908 a6c42fd9a8c218a091ec968

Sixty-nine years after Japanese planes bombed Pearl Harbor, survivors of the attack are due to gather at the base to remember those killed.

Some 100 survivors, the youngest of whom are in their late 80s, have traveled from around the country to attend Tuesday's ceremony.

The event is being held across the harbor from the USS Arizona, which sank in the attack and where the remains of nearly 1,000 sailors and Marines are still entombed.

The survivors will be welcomed by a new $56 million center for visitors and take a boat out to the memorial that sits on top of the battleship.

The new center has twice the exhibition space as the old one, offering a deeper understanding of the attack.

CRinVA

12-07-2010, 11:56 AM

This past Spring I was fortunate enough to take the "Admiral's Tour" of Pearl Harbor as my son-in-law is a Navy Captain. The general public gets a boat ride to the Arizona Memorial and back and can pay to tour the submarine located in the Harbor. The Admiral's Tour is different. We went directly to the Admiral's Boathouse (the Admiral in charge of the entire Pacific Command) and cruised Pearl Harbor in one of the Admiral's yachts. The Navy enlisted personnel that provided the tour are cream of the crop sailors (this is a teriffic tour of duty for them - kind of like the soldiers that protect the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washignton, DC) and gave a teriffic guided (and narrated) tour of Pearl Harbor to include cruising to the Arizonal Memorial as well as stops all along the Harbor to include the location where the Utah sank and one other ship I cannot remember it's name (although I remember the story of the boat Captain running his ship a ground so that his damaged ship would not block the mouth of the harbor. You see its a pretty narrow inlet in and out of the harbor. We also road right up next to the USS Missouri (very impressive) which is the Destroyer where the Peace Treaty was signed from in Tokyo Harbor. As part of the tour we also had a presentation on the Admirals Boathouse, his yachts and a mockup of the battle on Pearl Harbor showing the paths of the Japanese planes that attacked - it was quite impressive to say the least. And the personal anectdotes that have been passed on from sailor to sailer have been recorded and incorporated into the narrated tour. Somewhere in my files I actually have a copy of the entire tour narration in Word format.

I had a great time visitibng Hawaii, but I must say that our touring of the harbor and then getting a personalized tour of the USS Missouri was a definite highlight of hte vacation. Being a former Marine it meant more to me I think. It was quite somber and quite sobering. Standing directly over the tomb of the dead sailors and marines that lost their lives on the Arizona and standing on the deck on the exact location where the Japanese signed the surrender documents! We even tourned Ford's Island - base housing for many Pearl Harbor sailors and their families today - which many say is haunted. We visited the location where many of the sailors and marines that jumped to safety swam ashore onto Fords Island.

An intersting tidbit of gossip: The USS Arizxona memorial is the marker for the sunken ship and burial tomb for many servicemen - it is, in fact, a natinoal cemetery. AND there is at least one little girl that is buried there. It seems her father perished on the ship on Pearl Harbor day, when she was but a baby. When she died she was cremated and her ashes were delivered to the sunken ship to rest in peace with her father.

Andone totally used and non-related piece of information about Dec 7th - 32 years ago on this day I quit smoking for good after smoking two packs a day for a period of about ten years. One of the better decidsions I ever made I might add!