This morning we went to Pearl Harbor. We got our tickets to visit the USS Arizona Memorial. First we watched a video about the attack on Pearl Harbor and then we took a shuttle boat over to the memorial. The memorial is right on top of the sunken battleship. You can still see the battleship from the memorial. The gun turret is above the water and is clearly visable. You can also still see oil on the surface of the water that is leaking from the battleship.
In the memorial there is a room that has a wall containing all of the names of the sailors and marines that died on the USS Arizona.
There were some Pearl Harbor survivors there today. It was a very humbling experience.
Wish I were with you Blair! My Great Grandmother's brother (Jim Cline),along with his family, live in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. He had wrote a letter to us about Pearl Harbor. I can't wait to someday visit the USS Arizona myself. Do you know how many names were on the memorial wall? How far out did the shuttle boat take you until you reached the USS Arizona? What are they doing about all the oil that is leaking into the water? Can't wait for you to come home...I have lots of questions!!! Hope you are having a good time, and good luck on your bike ride!!!
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Dalton had asked how many names were on the wall. This is what I found out. It is 1177 names including both sailors and marines. The shuttle boat only takes you out about a quarter mile. It is really close to shore. The USS Arizona held approximately 1.5 million gallons of “Bunker-C” oil. The ship burned for 2½ days leaving an unspecified amount of oil onboard. Oil has been observed leaking from the ship since the 1940s, however little action was taken until environmental concerns were expressed recently. Now, they are measuring how much oil is leaking and how much remains. Approximately 2-9 quarts a day of oil leaks and the USS Arizona still contains 500,000 gallons of oil. They can't really do anything about the oil because it would be disturbing the burial site. Some of the survivors consider the oil droplets to be the tears of their fallen comrades.
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