Early start today as our tour bus is picking us up at 8:40 to go to Pearl Harbour. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour on 7 December, 1941 brought the USA into WWII and led to the defeat of Japan four years later. We had all visited Pearl Harbour previously and were all keen to visit the site of this tragedy. The most moving part is to visit the memorial erected above the US Arizona which was a battleship sunk by an air dropped torpedo with the loss of 1200 lives. The ship sank and settled on the bottom of the harbour and no attempt was ever made to recover it or the bodies trapped inside it. The memorial built over the wreck makes for a unique burial site and visiting it was a moving experience today and on our previous visit. After lying on the bottom for over 70 years oil still continues to seep from the vessel.
After a brief introductory video a US Navy boat took us out to the memorial where we had time to have a good look around and take photos.
The ship is gradually decaying away and is in the process of becoming a reef and home to the local marine life.
Once we left the memorial, we had the opportunity to visit a couple of museums dedicated to the Pearl Harbour attack. I was particularly impressed by a large model of the US Arizona.
Once again, a very interesting day. After an afternoon of not doing a lot, we decided to have dinner at the Cheesecake Factory Restaurant and once again the meals were fabulous and we staggered home very full - although I did find room for a Haagen-Dazs
on the way home.
Tomorrow is an even earlier start - we start at 07:00 on a 120 mile trip around the island of Oahu.
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