Pearl Harbor

Our one big outing was to Pearl Harbor.  Because tickets are only released the day before, they go *like that*, and I could only get 10 at at time, we did this outing in groups.  Our group went first and it was our family, Mom and Dad, Eric, Kris and the boys who shared this sobering, special experience.  

We did the audio tour which led us around to about a dozen stops, with commentary, while we viewed amazing pieces of history.  Some of audio was actual testimony from people who were at Pearl Harbor!

And some of the artifacts were insanely cool, like this rough draft of the famous "Date in Infamy" speech!  You can see President Roosevelt's pencil edits, changing some of its most iconic lines, like "suddenly and deliberately attacked".

As interesting as the museums are, though, the most impactful part of Pearl Harbor is standing on the Arizona Memorial above the earthly resting place of the 1,102 sailors killed in the surprise attack.  The audio tour continues and eventually finishes here with one of the Pearl Harbor veterans sharing a message of love, hope, and forgiveness.  It's something we'll always remember.

The still active USS Missouri can be seen from the Arizona Memorial.

In the middle of a war we can hardly imagine, we heard and saw stories of courage and sacrifice and forgiveness.  And we stood over the tomb of a thousand plus soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom.  I'm so grateful to have honored our history and shared these important moments with our own loved ones.