Down Memory Lane at Pearl Harbor
Within 3 months of each other, we had the honor of visiting both the Hiroshima Peace Memorial (A-Bomb Dome) in November 2025 and now, the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. Both were devastating acts against humanity in the name of war. Both memorials exist not only as a deterrent (hopefully) but as a reminder. With the recent passing of the last survivor aboard the USS Arizona, Lou Conter; and the last generation of the A-bomb survivors dwindling, we can all be more intentional about remembering and keeping the stories alive. If you have the opportunity, we highly recommend visiting both memorials in your travels.
Pearl Harbor was also the home port of USS Coronado AGF-11 (decommissioned in 2006), the command ship of the us Navy 3rd Fleet where Mike lived and worked onboard as a cryptologist from 1987 - 1990. A few blast from the past photos show Mike’s rack and a silhouette aboard the ship. If one is serving in the military, can’t think of too many “worse” places than calling Pearl Harbor home and traversing the Pacific Ocean, through the Bering Strait, to and from San Diego.
The bus system in Honolulu is quite good. There is a west bound bus #42 directly from Waikiki Beach to Pearl Harbor National Memorial that takes about an hour that we recommend, rather than first taking the W bus line that terminates at the airport, then transferring to the #42. The timing is about the same but the W line was very crowded with big luggage and people headed to the airport. NOTE that when returning to Waikiki Beach, the east bound #42 bus does not pick up at the National Memorial bus roundabout. We learned that we have to grab the bus from a different stop on Kamehameha Hwy. A Holo transit day pass can be purchased for $9/adult at any convenience store, such as the ubiquitous ABC Stores.
We didn’t make prior reservations for the boat ride out to the USS Arizona Memorial, which worked out fine. We put our name on the standby list and waited approximately 15 minutes. When it’s busier, it probably wouldn’t hurt to make reservations ahead. The USS Arizona is a military gravesite for 1177 US Navy and Marine Corps casualties. Of the 344 survivors, over 40 crewmembers to-date have chosen to be interred inside the sunken ship upon their death.
We also enjoyed the two little museums. The first museum went through a quick history about Japan’s quest to takeover much of the South Pacific and Indochina, their involvement in World War II, and why they felt compelled to attack the US. The US imposed an oil embargo against Japan for their part in the existing war. This was putting a damper on Japan’s military. They though that by attacking their largest threat - the United States pacific fleet - they could disable the US long enough for Japan to expand to the rest of the South Pacific. The rest is history. The second museum centered around December 7, 1941 and how Japan strategized the sneak attack. It also described the moments before, during, and after the attack in Pearl Harbor.
