Paying our respects

Yesterday we visited Pearl Harbour, a memorial to the victims of the Japanese surprise attack that yanked the Yanks into World War II. That's probably the only pun I'll make, because it was a pretty sober and somber experience overall. About 2,500 American soldiers died during the attack, which effectively crippled the U.S.' presence in the Pacific Ocean.

The Harbour itself was pretty interesting. It was a bright morning, with a six-piece Navy band playing Chattanooga Choo Choo and other hits from my Grade 9 school jazz band; the concession stand was doing a brisk business in footlong hot dogs and "nachos" (a.k.a. plain tortilla chips that you slather in cheez whiz out of a gallon-tub dispenser, God why America?); the walkway is lined with torpedoes, two honest-to-gosh ICBMs (minus the nuclear warheads), and memorial plaques for each submarine lost in WWII relating their demise in Jack London-type prose. As we drove around looking for a parking spot the national anthem started to play, and everyone stopped in their tracks in the middle of the road, hats to heart, gazing into the middle distance, their eyes eerily glowing with patriotic fervour. We found a pretty good spot.

We were made to watch a half-hour movie sponsored by companies like Northrop Grumman; it was informative, well-made, and propaganda-ey all at once. Did you know the first wave of Japanese planes (there were two) was actually picked up on radar, but the operator assumed they were an expected squadron flying in from L.A. and gave the all-clear? Or that the skipper of the U.S.S. Nevada ran his ship aground rather than risk blocking the harbour mouth? Or that the Japanese missed an opportunity to bomb the depot containing two years' worth of fuel for the U.S. Pacific Navy? Also, Roosevelt was a way cooler-looking guy than I'd thought, very Dick Tracey.

Anyway, we then boated over to the memorial erected over the U.S.S. Arizona, a first-line battleship sunk during the attack. Its ammunition heap exploded, killing hundreds of seamen in a second. Over seven hundred of them are still entombed within the ship, which rests just under the waterline in the harbor. The girls had different reactions. Aurora was super interested in the oil slick which has been leaking out of a fore hatch of the Arizona for over 70 years. Sophia cared most about being in front (her new persona is Fastest Hiker) which was tricky since the whole memorial was only about fifty feet long. And Tova's favourite part was five seconds' footage of a bobbing corpse late in the movie. ("Did you like anything else?" "No. Just the dead person.")

We were impressed by the efficiency of the operation: two million people are whisked through the memorial per year, but their iron-jawed volunteers kept everyone in line and it was all very smooth. Tamar, Aurora and Sophia also explored a submarine (Aurora's take: "yeah, it was exactly like the last one.") while Tova guzzled Gatorade and tried to spin the propellers on all the torpedoes. The military presence is so much greater in this country; Tamar struck up a conversation with a buzzcut fellow in a cafe who got very exasperated that she kept saying "Army" to encompass the Navy, Airforce and Marines, and claimed they were all the same since "they all fight."

So we enjoyed it, and can chalk one up for home schooling. Aurora did a research report before this field trip which helped her get into the spirit of it all, and the kids probably did learn. For instance, Aurora is now afraid of surprise air attacks, and Tova seems to have acquired a fondness for the concept of death.

Look what I found, Dad!

The memorial sits over the 608-foot battleship Arizona

After Pearl Harbour we saw a real mermaid cave!