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Honolulu: Rainy Arrival

HONOLULU, HAWAII, Nov 29 - It has been six days since we first touched down in Honolulu on this trip, but not much has changed since then.  When we arrived from Kona (Big Island) early Saturday afternoon, heavy clouds were hanging over Hawaii's capital and largest city.  Then the weather changed from bad to worse.  By early evening, steady rain was soaking the street and citizens of Waikiki (famous beach), where we are staying.

But when the temperatures are in the mid 70s, the rain did not stop us from walking around the beach and the Waikiki shops, such as those bunched up around a giant banyan tree (left and middle).  Later, we went out to dinner to a great Canadian steakhouse - Hy's, the only restaurant of its kind in the U.S. (right).

Pearl Harbor: Arizona Memorial

HONOLULU, Nov 30 - Our hotel concierge had warned us about the long lines and wait times to get in to see the Pearl Harbor sites, such as the Arizona Memorial and the battleship "Missouri."

So we got up at 5:30AM to make the first group of Arizona Memorial visitors. The gate opens at 7:30AM.  The above photos were taken literally at the crack of dawn, around 7AM.  And indeed, as you can see, there were fairly long lines - BEFORE the gate opened.  The sole reason for long lines seemed to be these fibs the tourists are told by the ill-informed hotel concierges.  For, that was the ONLY time there were any lines.  Later on, between 9AM and 10:45AM, when we eventually left the site to return home, there were NO LINES AT ALL!  So hundreds of people got up at the crack of dawn for no good reason at all.  Tourists beware!  There was one thing the concierges got right, though.  Entrance was free.

And the visit to the Arizona Memorial was a moving experience, even for someone like yours truly, who has seen it before (albeit on boat tours the last three times; they have been apparently discontinued after 9/11).  In fact, the overall security is very tight.  For example, there are no purses or bags of any kind allowed.  They even took away upon entry a plastic bag in which we had two bananas.  So again, tourists beware! Now, with these "public service" announcements out of the way, let us invite you to join us on a tour of the Arizona Memorial...

The tour started with a moving 20 min-film that put the Pearl Harbor experience in perspective for those who may have skipped the World War II history classes (see more about the Pearly Harbor  "conspiracy" that in AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Truth Concealed: Forewarned, Forearmed? Not at Pearl Harbor in 1941  - at the end of this travelogue segment). It continued with a boat ride to the Arizona Memorial, courtesy of the US Navy. Free.  Beautiful mountain and Pearl Harbor views were also free.

The Arizona Memorial grew larger and larger as we approached it. 

Right behind it, one could see the Battleship "Missouri," about which you will learn more later.  For now, a few cross-harbor views will have to do, coupled with one of a Navy Mom whose son had served on the "Missouri" during Gulf War I.

Meanwhile, back on the Arizona Memorial, the monument to some 1,150 men who are still entombed under the decks that are visible below the memorial, is as tasteful as it is meaningful.  As a history buff who has seen most of the memorial sites across the battlefields of Europe, this one is certainly one of the finest tributes to courage and service this writer has ever seen.

One of the most amazing things about the "Arizona," the sunken battleship, is that it is still bleeding oil - 67 years after it went down.  It is as if the ship herself is still shedding tears over the sailors who died in her womb.  You can also feel that as you look down at the ship's hull (right)...

...or at the memorial wall that contains the names of all those who died here on Dec 7, 1941.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

The Truth Concealed: Forewarned, Forearmed?

Not at Pearl Harbor on the "Day of Infamy" (Dec 7, 1941)

For most people, the story of "Arizona" and other Pearl Harbor and Pacific battlegrounds paints a black and white picture of what allegedly happened.  The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in a "surprise" attack, we are told.  "A day that will live in infamy," declared President Roosevelt the following day, in his address to a joint session of Congress as he announced the U.S. was at war with Japan, and therefore, with its ally, Germany.

Prior to the Pearl Harbor attack, however, most of the United States citizens were opposed to America's entering the war in Europe on Britain's side.  After the Pearl Harbor, the issue was a no brainer.  Roosevelt and his pal Winston Churchill NEEDED a "Pearl Harbor" as an excuse to involve this great country in a war (in Europe) that never threatened our national security.  And his government made sure it got its "Pearl Harbor" one way or another.

In short, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was no surprise.  History is written by the victors.  They shape the stories to fit their interests.  So what we are being told about Pearl Harbor in schools and textbooks is only a part of the truth.  The other part has been carefully excised from our history.  Big Brother reincarante?  You betcha...

How do I know that?  Well, take a look at the front page of the Honolulu Advertiser, dated Nov 30, 1941 (auspiciously exactly 67 years ago today - to the day!).

The top headline reads, "Japanese May Strike over Weekend!"  The article even predicted the timing of the attack accurately - eight days before it happened!  The rest of the story shows how our government was aware of the oncoming attack. 

According to some of my military sources, our government subsequently managed to destroy almost all the evidence, including going into the Hawaii hospitals and ripping off the front page of this newspaper. However, private Paul Brown, seeing what was going on, reportedly managed to save his own front page of the Advertiser and hide it from the government.  This is one of the very few known copies of that paper. It is supposedly hanging in the Punta Gorda Florida Military History Museum.  At least it was, as of March of this year, I am told.

Of course, none of this takes away one iota of credit or tribute to the brave men and women who fought during WW II, both in the Pacific and in Europe.  But it does go to show us once again that the "truth is the first casualty of war."  Tonkin Bay, Iraq's "weapons of mass destruction," are but some more recent examples of this truism.  Which is why we must never accept what governments tell us at face value.  More then 2,400 lives lost in just one day at Pearl Harbor ought to be reason enough, not to mention the millions that followed.

END OF HONOLULU Part 1 of 2... CLICK HERE to go to Part 2 of 2.

To be continued...

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