O'ahu - Hawaii - page 77

land, a modern multimedia museum displays rare WWII memorabilia and a model of the
battleship, as well as historical photos and oral history.
Offshore, the USS Arizona Memorial was built over the midsection of the sunken USS
Arizona , with deliberate geometry to represent initial defeat, ultimate victory and eternal
serenity. In the furthest of three chambers inside the shrine, the names of crewmen killed
in the attack are engraved onto a marble wall. In the central section are cutaways that al-
low visitors to see the skeletal remains of the ship, which even now oozes about a quart
of oil each day into the ocean. In its rush to recover from the attack and prepare for war,
the US Navy exercised its option to leave the servicemen inside the sunken ship; they re-
main entombed in its hull, buried at sea. Visitors are asked to maintain respectful silence
at all times.
On land, among the most interesting exhibits at the visitor center's museum galleries
are islanders' testimonies about the unease before the attack (maybe it wasn't as much of
a surprise to residents as it was to the military) and the frank look at the discriminatory
treatment of Japanese Americans during the war. A self-guided waterfront walk passes
interpretive signs illustrating how the attack unfolded in the now-peaceful harbor. The
center's bookstore sells just about every book and movie ever produced on the Pearl
Harbor attack and WWII's Pacific theater, as well as illustrated maps of the battle.
Boat tours to the shrine depart every 15 minutes from 8am until 3pm (weather permit-
ting). For the 75-minute tour program, which includes a 23-minute documentary film on
the attack, make reservations online (fee per ticket $1.50) at www.recreation.gov at least
a few days before your visit. Free first-come, first-serve tickets are also available in per-
son at the visitor center's Aloha Court, but during peak season when more than 4000
people take the tour daily, the entire day's allotment of tickets may be gone by 10am and
waits of a few hours are not uncommon, so arrive early.
Battleship Missouri Memorial MUSEUM, MEMORIAL
( 877-644-4896, 455-1600; www.ussmissouri.com ; 63 Cowpens St, Ford Island; admission incl
tour adult/child 4-12yr from $22/11; 8am-4pm Sep-May, to 5pm Jun-Aug) The last battleship
built at the end of WWII, the USS Missouri provides a unique historical 'bookend' to the
US campaign in the Pacific during WWII. Nicknamed the 'Mighty Mo' (it's bigger than
the RMS Titanic ), this decommissioned battleship saw action during the decisive WWII
battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
The USS Missouri is now docked on Ford Island, just a few hundred yards from the
sunken remains of the USS Arizona . During a self-guided audio tour, you can poke about
the officers' quarters, browse exhibits on the ship's history and stride across the deck
where General MacArthur accepted the Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945.