Update 7
On the beach by 7:30 a.m. munching on the breakfast our hotel provided...& smiling. Ahhh. Le --(the S. Vietnamese taxi driver who picked us up at the airport & we have called several times to move us about. He was a prisoner of war for 7 yrs, his family all drowned trying to escape, waited 8 yrs to get permission to come to USA...how do you not want to give this guy all your businesss?)--drove us to the Pearl Harbor Memorial. Such an incredible, solemn & sobering place. What a powerful sense of loss--as Rog said--not only to the thousands who died here--but for the many others who suffered because of it. Thoughts of my Dad who fought in the war & my Mom who built bombs & worried...flooded my mind. Elsi was struck with how unprepared we were, how we underestimated the Japanese, how young those sailors were. After hearing that Japanese felt they could only reach their goal of conquering the east if they destroyed the "dagger at their throat" (USA Pacific fleet), Elsi said she finally got the answer to her question of why they did it. Bob walked around the Missouri flabbergasted at the absolute massiveness of the ship. 16" Gun! The thickness of steel surrounding the citadel! A lump settled in my throat as I listened to many survivors tell their story and as I read about how the captain of the Missouri ordered the crew to gather up the remains of the Japanese pilot who'd crashed into them but whose bomb didn't explode--and give him a proper burial at sea--all the while they headed to battle. When one of his crew questioned his order, he told him "That soldier was doing for his country what you are doing for ours." Seeing one of the thousand cranes folded by the young Japanese girl, Sadako who longed for peace..and lost her fight against leukemia...made me hurt for all the children who lost their carefree life during that war & for years after. Then the war ended--right on this very ship where the treaty was signed--the order to begin the rebuilding resounded the hope for a better world that we still are striving for. The memorial was crammed with so much information, artifacts...and memories...all presented in a reverent & honoring manner. We were among the last to leave as they closed the gates behind us...we left awed, humbled, sad, proud & with Dec 7, 1941 etched deeper in our hearts.
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