Pearl Harbor: 65 Year Anniversary

65 years ago today, my grandfather was stationed on Hickam Air Force Base when it was attacked by Japanese forces. He survived the attack and went on to be a navigator for bombers.

One of the amazing things about living on Oahu and, in particular, Alimanu Military Reservation, are the amazing views of Pearl Harbor I get every day when I drive out of my street. I see Ford Island and the USS Arizona memorial and the USS Missouri. Every day. Rain or shine. Rainbows or sun rays. Every day. And I look at it every day in amazement.

Last week, Elizabeth asked me if I had received the email about the upcoming escort from the canoe club. It was supposed to be on Sunday night. I had seen that, but didn't even consider doing it because of childcare issues. Elizabeth said that she wanted me to have the experience. She offered the services of her daughter so that I could go with her. What a wonderful friend! She has escorted in the USS Nimitz and the USNS Mercy and said it was amazing. We didn't know what was coming in to harbor, but we knew it would be an experience.

We arrived at the canoe hale and found 3 boats worth of people waiting to welcome the La Jolla home. A Submarine! We donned our Aloha shirts and headed out to the mouth of the harbor.

The entire day leading up to the escort was cloudy and rainy, but when we arrived at the harbor, the sun was shining and it was beautiful. We headed out under the bridge, past the USS Arizona and the USS Missouri, to Hospital Point to wait.

It is hard to say how long we waited in the harbor, but I can tell you, my boat had the hardest wait. We were on the far side of the harbor where it was windy! There was a strong current and we had to work HARD to keep our boat positioned. The other two boats (one holding Elizabeth) were waiting on the other side of the harbor, protected from the wind. One canoe finally came over to our location to welcome the sub home. Elizabeth was able to see the La Jolla enter the harbor and the patrol boat go out to meet her. Then, the patrol boat presented the La Jolla with a HUGE lei and draped it over her top.

Then, all of a sudden, it was time to escort the La Jolla! A fire boat came out and started shooting water up in to the air to welcome home the crew. We started paddling. The crew of the submarine were standing on it dressed in their white uniforms along with their colored vests, which denote their particular jobs. Though, as Elizabeth would state later, they were red and green: Christmas colors!


A barge with families was also in the harbor. They were cheering and whistling. We were paddling hard as I looked behind me and there she was: the La Jolla. She was huge. Majestic. Amazing. What a beautiful experience. We were so close that I learned later, the crew was ordered to go to full stop so they wouldn't run in to us! (Actually, not MY boat, the one next to ours)




We paddled as hard and as fast as we could to keep up the the huge submarine. We ended up going right under spray from the fire boat and salt water filled my eyes. I am so glad I wasn't steering the boat because I couldn't open my eyes! My mom asked later if I was crying. Nope. I had too much salt in my eyes.

The submarine past us and turned the corner in to the dock. We could hear the horn blasting as it approached the waiting families. When we finally caught up to her, she was being pushed in to the dock by a tug boat. The families were waving and screaming their hellos.

We waited a while for the boat to dock. It was fun to talk with the other boats about our experience. After she was docked, we raised our paddles with big Aloha to signal that she was home.

We went back to the hale by way of the USS Arizona Memorial. I brought plumaira from my yard. As the sun was setting behind the memorial, I placed my flowers in the oil filled water. Yes, you can still see oil from the ship. Locals call it "tears." There were no people on the memorial at the time. It was surreal to be there.

Thank you, Elizabeth, for inviting me to take part in the escort. I will never forget it.

**Thank you to Karin Z. for the pictures. Some are blurry, but you aren't supposed to take pictures of active boats, anyway. You can get the idea just fine.***