Today is the 84th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbour.
It was always a bucket list trip for me and I finally managed to get there about eight years ago. The artifacts, displays and interpretive experiences are amazing. The USS Bowfin, USS Missouri, and the Aviation Museum are all well worth the time to see.
Above all, a visit to the USS Arizona Memorial is an absolute must. I found it very somber, respectful, serene, thought provoking and sobering.
Those of us on this forum probably know much about what happened there 84 years ago and how that single day was a defining moment of that time. What I wanted to share today is something that I stumbled across, which opened my eyes to a much larger operation in the days, weeks and months after.
Below is a link to the first of a three part series documenting the recovery and salvage efforts following the attack. Though we don’t normally think about this part, there was a monumental effort put forth to repair not only the harbour and facilities, but also to recover equipment and those souls lost in the attack.
My dad was there, serving on BB46, USS Maryland. Four of her crew were lost that day, but she sailed out on her own power in less than two weeks. He was part of her crew throughout the war and later served in occupation duty.
Thank you for the remembrance. Not everyone cares these days.
I was stationed there for a short while, we visited the memorial, its beyond words really, a very emotional place. But then we went to a luau and had pulled pork and all the Mai tai’s you could drink, I couldn’t drink Mai tai’s for 15 years after that night……
Thank you for this I love the history. My 17 year old father lied about his age and enlisted on Dec 9th 1941 and served in the Pacific in the Army Air Corps. He died when I was 12 (50 years ago) so I don’t know as much as I would have liked to know, but I know he wanted to be a pilot, but his eyesight wasn’t good enough. I still have his WWII metals.
