Standing in the USS Arizona Memorial, the white concrete “bridge” that straddles the sunken Navy battleship, I expected to feel ghosts of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. I anticipated an energy echo from the past, a residual static that would make hairs stand up or goosebumps appear. But there was nothing paranormal during my visit to Honolulu one month before the 80th anniversary of the Japanese attack on the harbor.
More than 900 sailors are forever entombed in the 608-foot-long vessel, about 37 percent of the total 2,403 military and civilians killed in that attack. More than 30 Arizona crew members who survived Pearl Harbor have chosen to add their ashes to the underwater ship.
The Pearl Harbor National Memorial is more than the highly visible Arizona memorial. It includes the USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma, and USS Utah memorials, as well as six officer bungalows, three mooring quays and the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center.
I got chills at the Visitor Center, watching video loops.
During one, a 90-something survivor recalled laying on a stretcher awaiting medical transport. Next to him, another sailor screamed in pain. The man’s arm and shoulder had been blown off in the attack. Upon recognizing the gravely injured sailor as a friend — Herman Bledsoe — he offered words of comfort. Soon after, nurses triaged the injured. Bledsoe was then dead.
These details made the two men more than names or numbers. The power of storytelling reached into my imagination, and they were real. I gave an involuntary shiver, despite the hot Oahu day.
Three hours was just enough time to watch an introductory video and tour the displays. I had never really learned the strategic reasons that the Japanese attacked the United States … until my recent Pearl Harbor history lesson. On another visit I would budget another hour or so to learn more at the adjacent Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum, which is operated separately and charges an entrance fee.
Close to downtown Honolulu and the resort area of Waikiki, Pearl Harbor is the most visited destination on Oahu. It remains open to visitors, but COVID-19 restrictions have changed ticketing procedures. Both the Visitors Center and the Arizona Memorial are free, but reservations are needed for the short ferry ride to the Arizona. Tickets become available eight weeks in advance. Visitors are not allowed to carry purses or bags onto the memorial campus.
To simplify, I signed up for the Pearl Harbor Remembered package with E Noa Tours. The company took care of tickets, transportation, and parking, while the shuttle driver added value by identifying Honolulu landmarks as we traveled to and from The Surfjack Hotel and Swim Club where I was staying.
The E Noa package also included tickets and transportation to the USS Missouri, the last American battleship ever built.
The ship is the bookend to the Arizona because Japan’s surrender on the Missouri’s deck ended World War II.
Travelers’ checks
Flying Cleveland to Honolulu for a week’s vacation on Oahu took about 17 hours travel time. Vaccination cards or negative COVID-19 tests were required to leave Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, as well as for island attractions and restaurants. Masks are required in public places. Hawaii is five hours behind Eastern Time. Pearl Harbor by land, sea and air was just one of our many adventures during the trip.
E Noa Tours: 3015 Koapaka St. Suite D, Honolulu, 808-591-2561, enoa.com.
Paradise Helicopters: Kona International Airport, 73-341 Uu St., Kailua-Kona, 866-876-7422, paradisecopters.com.
Pearl Harbor National Memorial: 1 Arizona Memorial Place, Honolulu, 808-422-3399, nps.gov/perl.
The Surfjack Hotel & Swim Club: 412 Lewers St., Honolulu, 808-923-8882, surfjack.com.