Pearl Harbor - Saturday

We disembarked from the ship at about 8:00 am and went directly to Pearl Harbor for a tour. Our tickets were for 12:15 so we had a few hours to look around. We toured the submarine Bowfin that was anchored in the harbor as a permanent display. There were some navy divers doing an underwater inspection of the hull while we were there. They were also playing with a remote controlled submersible.

After finally getting to the video presentation, we were surprised at how moving the story still was all these years later. The gentleman who introduced the video was a survivor of the attack and had spent 9 months recovering before going back to active duty. It was very interesting listening to him give his first-person account. Then we went over on a launch to the actual memorial. We walked around and took pictures. There were 6 or 7 Thomases on the list of casualties.

Afterwards, we went by bus to the Missouri, a battleship anchored in the same harbor. It was built shortly after Pearl Harbor and was the ship on which the Japanese surrender was signed. There is a permanent plaque embedded in the deck where the document was signed.

Then we were taken to the airport, we claimed our luggage from the bus and tried to find our hotel. More of a problem than we thought it would be. It certainly was no Marriott, but it served the purpose.

We have a wild journey ahead tomorrow.