The memorial is located within Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickham, and visitors first pass through the military security (no purses or bags of any kind, but cameras allowed), which delivers you to a painted map of the world displaying the location of Hawaii to the rest of the world, showing the great distance the Japanese fleet travelled for their World War II surprise strike that brought war to the shores of the United States. Hawaii is closest to San Francisco, but still a long distance to any continental mass.
In the distance, across an arm of Pearl Harbor, the white curved structure is striking. Farther in the distance is the USS Missouri, "Mighty Mo." This battleship was commissioned during WWII, and decommissioned after the first Gulf War, coming at last to join the military memorials housed at Pearl Harbor's Ford Island. Of course, it is a fitting book-end to the World War II memorial--the sunken USS Arizona representing the start of the war in 1941, and the immensity of "Mighty-Mo" where the documents of surrender were signed by the Japanese in 1945 representing the end of war.
The displays of our march toward war, and the war itself are beautifully and respectfully presented on the on-shore memorial, and the gardens remind us that this is a tribute to the thousands lost on Deecember 7, 1941. The film that precedes your journey across the water will bring you to tears, and the miltary water shuttle that carries you toward the USS Arizona Memorial begins to set the stage, but nothing truly prepares you for the poignancy of going onto the memorial.
It's stark white finish, and open air windows (representing the 24-gun salute) lead you to the wall of names of those lost aboard the sunken ships. Voices are hushed, and the mood is somber, but the memorial is a tribute which should not be missed. Leaning over the side to see the submerged sections of the Arizona, and rusty turrets still protruding above water can only bring home to you the terror of that early Sunday morning. For a few minutes, we are transported back in time 70 plus years to that Day of Infamy.
The USS Arizona is a memorial to the fallen, but a reminder to those still living of the senselessness of war.
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