Upon arriving at the Visitor Center, I had an opportunity before my scheduled film and water shuttle to explore the small memorial museum and gift shop. At 8:30 my group was ushered into the theater, where we watched a short film on the Battle of Pearl Harbor that featured 20 minutes of authentic historical footage taken before, during, and after the attack. It certainly served to instill a somber respect for the impending launch over to the USS Arizona, sunken watery tomb for thousands of brave and unsuspecting sailors... the Arizona was struck with an armor-piercing bomb which ignited the ammunition magazine, ripping the ship apart in a thunderous explosion and swiftly sinking the vessel with nearly all hands. According to our tour guide, the Arizona continued to burn underwater for nearly two and a half days, cremating many of those fallen, and so burning the remainder that not even dental records could identify them. Truly tragic.
At the memorial itself, a pristine white structure arches over the sunken remains of the battleship, and oil leaking from the wreckage still slicks the surface of the water above. Very little of the structure breaches the surface, though you can just make out the vessel submerged through the murky water.
Next on my tour is the Pacific Aviation Museum across the harbor bridge; as our driver is very conscientious to continually remember, I am the only member on the bus headed on this branch. Everyone else is headed to the USS Missouri.
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