Pearl Harbor

No first trip to Oahu would be complete without a visit to Pearl Harbor. We set out early in the morning to meet up with our shuttle driver. Even at 6:15 in the dark, morning traffic was bumper-to-bumper. We weren’t kidding when we said traffic was no joke there! We met up with our driver, stopped to pick up a few other guests, and then were driven through downtown Honolulu. Our driver called all of us “cousin” as a Hawaiian name of respect and pointed out some places of interest while telling funny jokes along the way. We were glad he was the one dealing with the crazy traffic and not us!

When we arrived on Ford Island, the location of the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, we first visited the USS Arizona. We were lucky to be able to visit this memorial, as sometimes, if there are renovations going on or if the water is choppy, they are unable to take the shuttle boat out to the memorial. If you have been to Pearl Harbor, you know it is rather crowded, but still humbling to see the top of the final resting place of the USS Arizona with fuel still leaking from the ship, even 82 years after its demise. There is also a memorial wall naming all 1,177 service members who died on that day.

Top of one of the gun turrets on the USS Arizona with Oahu in the background

We were allowed a decent amount of time to wander around the memorial before getting back on the shuttle boat to take us to the main grounds. Next we took a shuttle bus to visit the USS Missouri, the last battleship commissioned by the U.S. As we are not really military buffs, we weren’t sure we would enjoy seeing this old floating hunk of steel, but it turned out to be one of the highlights of our visit to Pearl Harbor! We were able to go inside the ship, and it was so fascinating seeing all the places that the service members worked, lived, and entertained themselves. There were many plaques and photos commemorating the service members who worked on the ship, and you could even smell the history that was there (you know what we mean!). We also saw the location of the surrender of the Japanese on the deck of the USS Missouri which brought the end to WWII. We spent hours here, exploring every nook and cranny we could find, but eventually it was time to get going so we could see the other museums at the memorial. We grabbed a quick, refreshing Dole Whip at one of the cafes and headed off to the Aviation Museum.

Top, L to R: Six of the nine gun turrets, crew mess hall, one of the many offices on the ship

Bottom, L to R: Crew bunks, the ship's dental clinic, the ship's post office

The Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum sits inside two WWII-era hangars and includes an air control tower. First we watched a short film covering the exhibits and history of the museum. Then we walked around Hangar 37 to see the 50+ different aircrafts which were involved with the war, including the Stearman N2S-3 in which former United States President George H.W. Bush completed part of his solo qualifications, and the wreckage from a Japanese A6M2 Zero which crash landed after the second wave.

A Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (Fighter)

A Douglas SBD-2P, Dauntless (Dive Bomber)

The Aviation Museum has a neat flight simulator that we heard was lots of fun, and since we happened to get there when there wasn’t a line, we decided to take advantage of it and try it out. We sat inside a moving cockpit, trying to aim at the enemy and shoot them down. Unfortunately, we weren’t briefed beforehand on what our objective was, so we weren’t very successful with our “mission”, and Marianne flew us straight into the ground at one point! 🤦 And, we should warn you that if you’re someone who easily gets motion sickness… you might want to skip this one! 🤢 Due to time constraints and renovations, we didn’t get a chance to visit Hangar 79, the control tower, or the Raytheon Pavilion where they have traveling STEM exhibits, but for someone who is really into aviation history, they would probably enjoy spending more time in this museum.

Lastly, we visited the USS Bowfin submarine. From the outside, the Bowfin looks pretty unassuming; you can even walk around on the roof. But once we went below into the bowels of the ship, we saw some very interesting artifacts, torpedoes, and again we were able to see and get a feel of what life was life for service members within the cramped, confined spaces of the ship. Each small hatch door we walked through took us to a new section of the ship, which seemed to go on forever. This was one place we were glad we couldn’t smell the history of this ship so much, because we can already imagine how it might have smelled with 80 servicemen packed inside for days!

Top, L-R: Beautiful brass pipe and fittings, the hatch doors to each section are pretty small!, the crew mess hall

Bottom, L-R: Electrical supply gauges, the crew's bunks

We met back up with our shuttle driver who took us up to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific Punchbowl, where over 13,000 soldiers and sailors who died during World War II were laid to rest, along with men and woman who served in the Armed Forces during WWI, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to get off the bus and walk around, but our driver pointed out some important headstones and told us about the history of the area. Interestingly, this same dormant volcanic crater is known as the site where Hawaiians used to offer human sacrifices to their gods and killed those who violated ancient laws and taboos.

Headstones and the Lady of Columbia statue at the National Memorial of the Pacific Punchbowl

Overall, we enjoyed visiting the Pearl Harbor National Memorial more than we thought we would. It was fascinating and humbling to learn more about WWII history, and we can’t wait to re-watch the movie Pearl Harbor with some newfound respect!

A rainbow over the USS Missouri with the USS Arizona Memorial on the right

If you’re interested in learning more about the tour we did at Pearl Harbor, click here.