It’s spring break again, that lovely time of the year when the college flock to the beaches to escape the mundane world of homework, tests, and teachers. Even though I’m not i college at the moment but merely on my year off, i likewise did the same. This past Sunday the folks and myself headed down to Hawaii for another exciting adventure in DLWS history. That is of course this next week, this week we are spending our time enjoying some sight seeing and learning more about our nations history. What better place to start then with Pearl Harbor. I had never been here before, nor did i know the much about the place. Before coming here i had only known a little bit about the memorial and a fair amount of Pearl Harbor. This is of course actual knowledge not just from movies like “Pearl Harbor” and “Tora Tora Tora.”
After spending a little time at the Pacific Aviation Museum on Ford Island, we went over to the lineup area for the boat ride over to the Arizona Memorial. What got me about the whole harbor was how small it seemed and yet how filled it was with stuff. There wasn’t many Navy ships left at anchor but the whole place still felt filled. It was hard wrapping my head around what it must have been like back then without the bridge, the multitude of homes, and everything being on fire. Looking up the American flag was quite visible through the marble openings. Looking towards the stern the third gun turret was the only part of the ship still above the water. Even that wasn’t complete. The top section was cut away, unknown where it ended up only rumors now. The ship rests on the bottom of the harbor seventeen feet below that point. There’s an odd feeling there of sadness and bewilderment. I guess it’s one of those things that is just hard to truly understand in todays world, symbolic as it is, there’s just no way to truly know what it felt like to be there.
Images captured with Nikon D3, AF-S 24-70 f2.8, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film