Been on my bucket list for quite some time. I've visited Valley Forge, Gettysburg, and now Pearl Harbor. A bunch of people were fucking off and being disruptive on what I consider sacred ground. Other than that it was a great but long day. We flew into Honolulu from Maui and rented a car. We're back in Maui now and I'm sure the wife and I will sleep tight.

If you haven’t been, you should add Normandy to your list.

Bytes, sorry people were being disruptive. Pearl Harbor is sacred ground and, like you, it was on my bucket list. My visit was 4 years ago. The ranger that accompanied our boat set the tone. He spoke in a quiet voice about the reverence of the place then asked that we wait until he cleared the memorial. He did so, then turned to the flag and executed a perfect salute before ushering us in. I don't know if that is standard protocol but I thanked him for doing so. I do not understand how anyone can be anything other than humbled at the bravery and loss in that place.

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Originally posted by Patriot:
If you haven’t been, you should add Normandy to your list.

My wife is retiring in two weeks and we are going to Normandy and the rest of the European theater retracing her Dad’s WW2 campaign. Along that route we will be attending two ceremony’s in different towns where his unit (113th Calvary) liberated the towns. It will be a very emotional trip for her.

Pearl Harbor is on our list to visit as well as we had family members that were stationed there on that fateful day …

Dad and I visited a little over 15 years ago, and both of us said Pearl Harbor is something every American should visit. We also did the Battle Stations tour (see more of ship with tour guide) of the Missouri the same day.

We spent half the trip in Waikiki (downtown on the beach) and half the trip at Turtle Bay (way more relaxing). There is very little to do in paradise when it rains so Dad and I came back and visited the aviation museum on Ford Island on a rainy day.

My paternal grandfather served in the Navy in the Pacific in WW2, but he was not at Pearl Harbor. He was both a fireman and welder on a Landing Ship Medium (LSM). He wouldn't talk at all about the landings or any fire fighting, but would talk about welding when they were out to sea.

I was there right before COVID and it was very impressive. My MIL lost a HS classmate on the Arizona. I had a friend and co-worker who was there that Sunday morning.

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A bunch of people were fucking off and being disruptive on what I consider sacred ground.

Sounds like the place could use an equivalent of the Tomb of the Unknowns guard.

I'm glad you could visit Pearl Harbor. When I started working in Hawaii in 2009, I bought a Honda S2000 from a USAF major who became a friend. He gave us a tour of Hickam Field. The central building has been kept as a museum, including pock marks on the outside walls, and a corridor with photos and memoria.

We also took the "inside" tour of the USS Missouri, and that was great as well. Oh yes, and the Air Museum on Ford Island. Has a display of the Japanese plane that crashed on Niihau; and IIRC a trainer flown by George H.W. Bush.

You're bringing back memories.

Oh then there's the Punchbowl Cemetery--Ernie Pyle's grave; a section for the 442d Regimental Combat Team (the Go For Broke AJA's).

I have been to the PH memorial a bunch of times and it is one of my favorite places to visit. I have not once had a negative experience with anyone being disrespectful. One of the things I enjoy most is the quiet solemn nature and deep reflection that site instills in me. One of my oddest visits was in 1991 during the run up to the 50th anniversary when 2/3 of my ferry boat was made up of aging Japanese citizens. Sorry that you experienced any level of disrespect, but glad you got to see it.

My father was stationed at Hickman air field during the Vietnam war and my brother was born at the pink palace on Oahu. I had a great uncle that served on the cruiser Astoria which saw a great deal of action throughout the Pacific Theater. I have all of his records, letters, and notes from his deployment from sea trials to the end of the War. Another of my great uncles was a marine in the pacific theater who was at many of the island campaigns including Iwo Jima. The animosity they carried toward Japan and Japanese things was incredibly strong still in the 1980s more than 40 years removed from their experiences.

My brother and I went when we were there with my parents for a convention and had a day to get out, think it was in 76. Just drove over and there was a group they let us into.

I was at that time into WW2 history so it was a great opportunity for me to get up close as you could to a battlefield in the Pacific theater for a kid from Kentucky.

Remember it well and can still recall the visit.