The Day of Infamy
A friend of mine arrived on Oahu last summer. Her husband is military. Their home is on Ford Island which contains military housing.
A little before 8:00 am, Hawaiian time, Sunday, December 7, 2008, she was getting her children ready for church. While finding wayward shoes, stacking breakfast dishes in the sink, putting water in the dog's dishes, she was thinking, "another beautiful day", when she heard something that sounded very out of place. She paused. Planes? Ford Island is not near the airport.... "There shouldn't be any planes flying near here!" The sound got louder....
It was a fly-by in honor of Pearl Harbor Day. It occurred to her that on Dec. 7, 1941, families on Ford Island and all around Pearl Harbor had begun their day exactly as she had, but for them,
8 am signaled the end of the world as they new it, actually the end of the world as any of us knew it. The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor!
Ford Island, today, contains several landmarks from that horrific event. I was privileged to be there this morning with Chelsea and Jackie to photograph some of those landmarks. This is the original tower that was in operation on that day (and the one seen in "Pearl Harbor").
This is the other side of the building at the base of the tower.
Original bullet holes in the glass of this hangar.
The USS Missouri. The ship on which the surrender of Japan, and the end of WW II took place. There is even a plaque in the wooden deck of the ship indicating exactly where the table stood on which the surrender was signed. (The ship was in Tokyo Bay at the time of the signing)
Another photo day where there are way too many images to post.
P.S.--check yesterday's post--I added some text.
Posted at 6 pm on Sat., March 21, 2008
7 comments:
Terrific series. I really like the symetery of the second to last photo. The one above that, with the flags, flying is also good. I like how there is a complete flag in the back compared to the bits of flags in the foreground. It draws my eyes to the back. Nice job!
very nice images and a nice walk through the history of pearl harbor.
i love the image of the flags flapping in the wind.all the pictures are good.
it sounds like you had a meaningful day.thanks for sharing.
The picture with the ship and the flags flying in the foreground is fantastic. I also loved how you started this blog out with your friend's story. A very powerful post altogether!
I agree with all of the above! :-)
The image with all the flags whipping in the wind is awesome! I keep going back to that one. Love the red/white stripes against the gray...and the people in the background along with the full flag is wonderful. I also loved the window shot with the bullet holes. Your post really deserves a WOW! :-)
The ship and the flags are beautiful. I am often amazed by the feeling of being on the Pearl Harbor and Hickham bases. They are modern in many way, but are so very reminiscent of the past. Nice story. Thanks for sharing them.
5 yrs ago, i had the priveledge of vacationing in maui and we flew to pearl harbor for a day, it was magnificent, just as your pictures are....i long for the day i can return to that beautiful land of paradise...it really is in my opinion, paradise.
Last night I wrote a comment(which must have been lost) about being confused how your friend could have been alive during the attack. It was a suspenseful introduction to your post..Then you brought us throug the ld buildings abd to The Missouri,, The flags were beautiful.was that a ceremony
Are those the guns in the last picture the same as the ones on my post?
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