A memorial a couple days after Veteran's Day

Yesterday, I went and visited the USS Arizona Memorial.

I recommend making the trip for those who come out here. Expect to wait in lines with tour bus people (as it is a free exhibit) and deal with crowds, but I had no real concept of the damage done on that "day that will live in infamy" until visiting the museum and memorial.

As a part of the tour, they show a movie on a big screen, which shows the explosion on the Arizona. The battleship's forward magazine exploded. Anyone who wasn't killed directly by the explosion was likely killed by the shock wave.



Around 3000 people lost their lives that morning (this attack started closed to 8AM and was over by around 10AM...hope I got that fact correct). Approximately 900 of these are entombed inside the Arizona.

It was moving to see a little old lady in a wheelchair coming to visit the monument. Overhearing her conversation with one of the park rangers, she wanted to come and see what Pearl Harbor meant to her deceased husband. Her husband was there that day and refused to go back.

I can only imagine what sort of impact an event like that would have on a person.....