Pearl Harbour Revisited

The Aloha Tower; Moss 2009-01-25-0732

Hula dancers welcoming our ship as we arrived at the Aloha Tower; SqC 2009-01-25-1670



Pearl Harbour Revisited



Today is Day Seven of our voyage. The alarm went off a little after six am so that we could watch the Rotterdam come into Honolulu. We went out on our verandah and, sure enough, there were the lights of Oahu shining on the horizon. It was too dark to get a good picture of the lights at sea because of the motion of the ship, but the sun came up early enough to permit a picture of sorts just as our ship was slowing down for the pilot. We came into Honolulu Harbour as the sun came up, and eased toward Honolulu’s famous landmark, the Aloha Tower. Built in 1926, the tower welcomed travelers sailing to Oahu for many years. And, just like in the days of old when the Matson liners landed, there were musicians and hula dancers on the dock at the foot of the tower singing and dancing a welcome to our ship. It was a magical moment recalling the “Grand Manner” days of yesteryear. Squeekie and I both LOVED it!

We watched the landing from the Lido Deck aft, and then went forward to the Queen’s Lounge, where we convened to await being called for our excursion. Today in Honolulu was the first excursion we contracted for on our cruise. Entitled the “Pearl Harbour VIP Military Base Experience,” the tour was early off the ship and was conducted by a very humorous and knowledgeable guide named Brandon.

First we went to the Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbour. Squeekie and I have been there before several times, but it is always interesting to return. We toured the museum in the memorial building operated by the National Park Service; the new things they have obtained and put on display since our last visit in 2003 were very interesting. I took a quick spin through the museum bookstore but kept my purchases down to two books, two documentary movies, and the new teacher’s package. Then we went into the theatre to see the movie, before boarding the launch that took us out to the Memorial.

How emotional it was to enter the Memorial! I always feel a lump in my throat as I walk over to the edge railing and look down at the rusting remains of that once mighty ship. The turret barbette which pushes above the water is a silent reminder of what this ship was designed to do, and how that form of naval warfare (shooting matches between the big guns of rival battleships) essentially died on December 7, 1941, along with over 1100 men. On the back wall of the memorial we saw the name of “E. Winter, Machinist.” Even though he died aboard the Arizona six years before I was born, I feel like I knew him. Ed Winter had worked for Edison as a machinist, I think at Big Creek, before his return to naval duty in 1940. When I operated the Edison museum, one of our prized displays was the Christmas card he had sent from Hawaii to his Edison friends; the postmark on the card’s envelope was December fourth, 1941. . . .

Squeekie also got a very good picture of the USS Missouri which is anchored just about 100 yards south of where the Arizona lies; together these ships offer a fitting memorial to the beginning and ending of the Pacific War.

After returning to the far shore we boarded our tour bus for the drive up island to Wheeler Field and Schofield Barracks. At Wheeler Field we saw the replica P-40 fighter plane made for the “Tora, Tora, Tora” movie, along with some retired Army helicopters used in the Pacific theatre since World War Two.

At Schofield Barracks we saw some of the buildings remaining from the December Seventh attack, and then stopped for lunch at the Officers’ Club. After lunch we stopped at the recently completed memorial for the fallen soldiers of the 25th Infantry “Tropic Lightning” Division. It is a moving grouping of full-sized bronze statues of soldiers in uniforms from all the wars in which the division has fought: World War Two, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq. What made this moment so moving was when our tour group—all 22 of us—was done at the memorial and were about to board the bus, a family group came up to the Memorial and a recently widowed young woman placed a lei and dogtags on the monument, and then cried, while her mother tried to comfort her and while her father took a few pictures. It reminded all of us—if any needed reminding—that American troops are still making the ultimate sacrifice as part of our nation’s policies in the world at large.

Then we drove over to Fort Shafter where we saw the famous and historic “Coconut Palm Circle,” where officers’ homes and official buildings dating back to 1907 surround a grassy parade ground lined with coconut palms. Among the historic buildings we saw (but we were not permitted to photograph all of them, just some) were “Quarters 5,” the home of General Short on December Seventh, a lovely gazebo that has been featured in two movies about the Pearl Harbour attack, the famous “Aloha Gun,” an ancient muzzle loading cannon dating from the days of the Hawaiian monarchy that once was used to welcome or warn ships approaching Honolulu, and building T-100, the renowned “Pineapple Pentagon,” built in 1944 and still to this day the headquarters of the United States Army in the Pacific.

The tour then took us up to the Punchbowl National Memorial where Squeekie took good pictures of the last resting places of Ernie Pyle, the famous and very popular World War Two correspondent who was killed in the Okinawa campaign in May 1945, and Ellison Onizuka, the Hawaiian astronaut killed in the Challenger accident in 1986. A drive through the heart of downtown Honolulu, past several historic buildings, brought us to the “Home of the Brave” museum honouring those who fought and died in World War Two.

Following this day-long injection of American military history, we returned to Pier Eleven beside the Aloha Tower. Squeekie took pictures of the Rotterdam at anchor and of the Aloha Tower, then we shopped in some of the stores around the tower; the area is known as “Boat Days Bazaar,” a recollection of the earlier times when all tourist traffic to Hawaii came by ocean liner. In one store I found a bracelet of honus (sea turtles) made of silver and blue opals, which I bought for Squeekie as an early birthday present.

We reboarded the Rotterdam and settled in on the aft Lido deck to await our departure, reading and watching the activity in the harbour. It cooled off as the sun set so we decided to change locations. Squeekie had found that Deck Six has a forward-facing view deck, so we went up there and watched the departure activities. Finally, a bit after eight pm, the ship’s mighty bass whistle blew, the mooring lines were cast off, and he Rotterdam began backing away from Pier Eleven. The Rotterdam, big though she is, crept on “cat feet” out of the harbour at Honolulu to resume her circumnavigation journey. With some emotion we realized that we were leaving Hawaii and American soil. We were just one twelfth of the way on our around the world cruise and now face nine days at sea as we head into the South Pacific.