Visiting the Pearl Harbor and USS Arizona Memorial

Last year on my honeymoon trip to Hawaii, I had the honor and privilege of touring the Pearl Harbor and USS Arizona memorial. Since my wife and I were staying on the island of Oahu, we felt it was well worth the thirty minute drive from our hotel to get to the memorial. What we discovered was a very sobering experience and even though we weren't alive when the attacks occurred we were moved by the tribute and history of this place. We were literally standing over the graveyard where over 1100 men perished from the day of December 7th, 1941.
No trip to Hawaii is complete without making the trip over to Pearl Harbor. This year marks the 65th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and marks the United States' entry into World War II. This memorial was turning point into the war, and ultimately the world. The memorial remains as one of the top tourist destinations in Hawaii, and visitors can also view the Battleship Missouri Memorial for an extended tour.

If you're in the area, I recommend getting to the memorial as early as possible before the majority of the tour buses arrive. The USS Arizona Memorial is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. When I took my trip we arrive at 10:00 to find a line wrapped around half of the island of Oahu. This goes to show you that only two and a half hours after it opened it was still packed with people.

Upon arriving you'll quickly see that no bags are allowed onto the USS Arizona Memorial. After the events of September 11th, the National Park Service decided to instead allow visitors to pay $2 per article for storage before boarding the vessel to take you over to the memorial. Besides handbags you can also no longer bring backpacks, camera bags, diaper bags, or other items that offer concealment. Again, the National Park Service is attempting to protect the importance of the memorial. Don't worry, you can still bring cameras to document your trip.

The actual museum doesn't have an entrance fee, but they do encourage that you donate to the Pearl Harbor Memorial fund. Before you stand in line you have the opportunity to tour the Pearl Harbor museum that has lots of interesting artifacts and evidence of that horrible day. After you've stood in line, a National Park Service ranger will usher you into a movie theatre where a 23 minute documentary film shows footage of the attack and gives a brief overview of the nature of the attacks.

Once you've viewed the film you will shuffle out of the theatre and onto a small ship that will shuttle you to the USS Arizona memorial. When you arrive you will be overwhelmed with the significance of the place you are now standing. They allow about a twenty minute visit on the memorial, which is a floating white concrete structure that sits directly over the sunken USS Arizona. There are still pieces of the vessel sticking above the water, and surprisingly oil still floats to the surface of the water. I've heard that the National Park Service says they symbolize this event as the ships tears or the vessel is still bleeding from the attacks. Inside there is a memorial with the names engraved of all 1177 men that perished aboard the USS Arizona. It's a surreal experience and it will take a little over an hour to view the whole tour. It's certainly worth the visit and I hope you take the time if you're ever in Hawaii to witness this location where the world was changed.