Feb. 17-18th

We left snowy and cold Hawaii on Friday....on separate flights.  Gary and his mom flew on a Delta direct flight from Salt Lake to Honolulu.  However, since I was flying on to Hong Kong later, it was much cheaper (like $2000 cheaper) to fly a different airline which had no direct flights.  I left at 6:00 a.m. on Friday and met them at the airport around 5 in the afternoon in Honolulu.  They enjoyed free movies and games on their flight.

The weather was gorgeous in Honolulu Friday evening and for most of our trip except for some rain now and then and one very cold and rainy day while we were on the Big Island.

Saturday we got up early and headed off to visit Pearl Harbor and the famous military cemetery at Punchbowl.  These were the two main places that we didn't visit on our prior trip to Hawaii about 25 years ago.  They were both very touching places.  It is humbling to stand in places that honor people who died in defending our country during a very difficult part of the world's history.

Punchbowl Cemetery

View at the top

The cemetery is built inside a volcanic crater

Lists of names of those buried here or honored for their deaths during the many battles in the Pacific during World War II

Looking down the stairs

The three of us walking down the middle

Gary found a grave stone (in the grass to our right) for an LDS serviceman--

depicted by the Angel Moroni on it.

Pearl Harbor

Part of a display at the entrance to Pearl Harbor--very sobering reminders.

A rusted piece of the US Arizona where it was left after being attached and sunk.  It hit the harbor floor so hard that it sunk in to the ocean floor itself.

A close-up of the list of men who were buried when the Arizona was sunk.

To the side is a list of men who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor but whom elected to be buried here when they died.  The most recent one was last year.

The Monument over the sunken Arizona

We made some other fast stops around the city and then headed on to our boat to get settled in, enjoy a dinner and relaxation.