Our visit to Pearl Harbor, Honolulu

On our final full day in Honolulu, we visited Pearl Harbor. Although the trip to Hawaii was a belated promised anniversary trip, a visit to Pearl Harbor was also on Greg's bucket list.

Tree of Life statue to his left

To be honest, I knew very little about Pearl Harbor, and had little interest in visiting. However, I was happy to accompany Greg, as I knew it was of interest to him. I'm glad I did.

Greg is standing on a map showing the relative location of Japan, Hawaii, and the North American mainland. You'll see an audio player hung around his neck. It provided a self-guided tour, with the narrative done by actress Jamie Lee Curtis, whose father, actor Tony Curtis, was active in the Pacific in WWII. This audio tour was an interesting way to learn more about that day. Although Jamie Lee Curtis narrated it, there were many interviews with survivors who told their story.

This struck me as particularly interesting - to realize the attack only lasted two hours, and yet did such extensive damage.

I also found this prayer there to be thought-provoking:

"Dear Lord / Lest I continue / My complacent way / Help me to remember
Somehow out there / A man died for me today. / As long as there be war
I then must / Ask and answer / Am I worth dying for?"

The day we arrived in Honolulu, December 7th, marked the 75th anniversary. There were people there to mark this special date, including survivors and their families. When we did our tour, Greg was happy to be able to buy a Harley Davidson commemorative t-shirt to remember our visit and that special event.

Pearl Harbor will be closed to the public later this month for President Obama to tour the memorial with the President of Japan. This will be a historic event as it will be the first time a president of Japan will visit the memorial.

Greg and I landed at Hilo airport (the Big Island) on the 19th for our house sit. We noticed this plane on the runway, with "United States of America" where you'd normally see an airline name. We learned it was Air Force 2.

President Obama apparently vacations on Oahu at this time of year, and this plane is on standby all the time he's there. It is fully staffed and the engine is kept running, so that it can take off on 10 minutes' notice. Greg and I were so excited to see this, and those who take that flight regularly were quite amused by our excitement :)

Although we became house sitters to live more like locals, sometimes we still stand out as tourists!