Pearl Harbor, HI - 07 December 1941 - Never Forget

PEARL HARBOR - NEVER FORGET
"December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in Infamy. The United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by Naval and Air forces of the Empire of Japan" 
Franklin Delano Roosevelt

A TRIBUTE TO THE BRAVE WHO GAVE ALL IN DEFENSE OF OUR COUNTRY

As time continues to separate us from significant events that have shaped our Nation and preserved Freedom for the citizens of the United States of America, I felt it incumbent upon me to share what I learned from my visits to Pearl Harbor over the years. The Memorial above is to the Marines and Sailors of the Battleship USS Arizona who lost their lives on December 7th, 1941 when "Kate" Torpedo Bombers from the Japanese Imperial Navy aircraft carriers Kaga and Hiryu scored 4 hits on the ship with 1,757 pound bombs.
JD Jessop Photo

The USS Arizona was a proud and powerful battleship. One of the 4 bombs penetrated the armored deck in the vicinity of the ships ammunition magazines, touching them off in a horrific explosion that blew the ship in half. 
The massive explosion and resultant oil fires killed 1,177 of the 1,312 men who were on board that quiet, beautiful Oahu morning. The Posthumous Medal of Honor citation given to the ships Captain, Issac C. Kidd reads in part "For conspicuous devotion to duty, extraordinary courage, and complete disregard for his own life". This description could have been applied to hundreds of Sailors and Marines who scrambled to defend their shattered fleet. When the air raid sirens went off, Captain Kidd immediately went to the bridge to direct combat operations and that is where he died instantly when the ships magazines went off.
JD Jessop Photo
Today, if you visit the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, you will stand right over the skeleton of the once proud battleship that rests along with the remains of the fallen at the bottom of the harbor. You can look down into the water and still see oil leaking from the stricken ship. The sheer amount of names of the fallen etched into the walls renders the observer grief stricken and somber as the bright Hawaii sunshine shafts through the ceiling openings onto the panel of honor.
JD Jessop Photo

USS Arizona was not the only ship that was devastated by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Eight Battleships of the US Pacific Fleet were left in flames when the final wave of attacking planes departed Oahu. Few of these ships suffered so greatly as did the mighty USS Oklahoma - pictured above in all her glory.
PHOTO CREDIT
By U.S. Navy - http://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/us-navy-ships/battleships/arizona-bb-39/80-G-463589.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51109344
USS Oklahoma also suffered catastrophic loss and destruction at Pearl Harbor.
PHOTO CREDIT
http://warmemorialpark.org/uss_oklahoma/

The Oklahoma Memorial is on Ford Island near the entrance to the Battleship Missouri. 429 men were killed aboard this ship during the Japanese attack making the loss of life she and her crew suffered, second only to Arizona. JD Jessop Photo
The Oklahoma memorial is stunning and beautiful but the visitor is once again left with a pit in the stomach and ache in the heart as one walks among the seemingly numberless marble columns. What do these columns represent? Well in the US Navy, every time a ship comes into home port, the Sailors and Marines stand along the rails and superstructure of the ship in their dress uniforms in a tradition called "Manning the Rails". At the memorial, 429 white marble columns represent each man who lost his life on the ship that day, standing in his dress uniform, forever "Manning the Rails". The interpretive marker at the site implores the visitor to "Walk among the Sailors and Marines and understand their Sacrifice". I am not one bit ashamed to say that this Marine got teary eyed walking through the columns of Oklahoma's fallen brave.
JD Jessop Photo

USS Oklahoma Memorial
JD Jessop Photo
On the back side of Ford Island, Opposite the Arizona Memorial, you will find the grave of another great ship which is the USS Utah. This Battleship was once the pride of the US Navy but by the time 1941 rolled around, the ship was obsolete but was still in active service as a training ship. On December 7th, 1941, the Utah was moored at berth Fox 11, where she remains to this day. Early on in the attack, Utah suffered multiple torpedo hits and quickly sank trapping dozens of men inside. In order to clear the channel so remaining ships would not be trapped after the attack, Utah was rolled over on her side. Sailors and dock workers toiled for days trying to rescue crewmen trapped in the overturned hull. Only 1 man out of all the trapped on board was saved. Efforts to raise the ship failed so Utah remains in place today with her entombed crew who remain forever at rest just off the shore of Ford Island in Pearl Harbor.
PHOTO CREDIT
http://www.quartoknows.com/blog/quartoexplores/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2015/10/USS-Utah-Memorial-Hidden-Warships.jpg

USS Utah - Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii
JD Jessop Photo

Ghostly ship's portal
USS Utah - Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Oahu, HawaiiJD Jessop Photo

USS Utah - Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Oahu, HawaiiJD Jessop Photo
Immediately behind the USS Arizona stands the Magnificent, Proud and Fearsome monument to US Naval Power in the Pacific in World War II - the USS Missouri. This monstrous Battleship was the climax of the dreadnought period and the most powerful Battleship along with its sisters New Jersey, Iowa, and Wisconsin, to ever roam the seas. It seems just and fitting that Missouri will forever guard and watch over fallen Arizona as the Empire of Japan surrendered unconditionally to General Douglas MacArthur in Tokyo Bay aboard Missouri 02 September 1945. Missouri BB63 is moored in perpetuity along the edge of Ford Island, right behind the USS Arizona memorial. If you ever visit Pearl Harbor, make sure you see the Arizona memorial and pay your respects where this dastardly attack occurred, and then go to Ford Island and walk the deck of the mighty "MO" as the Missouri was nicknamed and see the very spot where the surrender documents were signed that ended World War II.
JD Jessop Photo
 
 USS Missouri BB63
JD Jessop Photo
"Surrender Deck" USS Missouri BB63
JD Jessop Photo
 
USS Missouri BB63
JD Jessop Photo

Submarine leaving Pearl Harbor - Pearl Harbor Remains a busy US Navy Base today.
JD Jessop Photo

Modern US Warships at berth - Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
JD Jessop Photo

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