ot understand what it all quite meant.And in, Hawaii, probably the saddest memorial of them all, I went on a tour. In Pearl Harbors cool, clear water lie many rusting ships, one of which is named the Arizona. After a long wait to get into the memorial, most people walk through the museum while others who dont understand English very well are lead by a tour guide. The museum has all the information you could possibly pack in it. They talk about why Oahu is thought to be the best place for the U.S. Naval fleet, all events leading up to WWII, and after thoughts of the people and families affected by the attack on Pearl Harbor. When you are finished looking through the museum, it is time to go on to the memorial itself. A small passenger ferry takes you out to it. As you step off the ferry and on to the dock, you can read ARZONIA MEMORIAL written at the top of the monument. The long white monument is located width wise over the sunken ship. In the center of the memorial, you can look out to it in both directions and even see parts of the ship in the clear blue water.As I stood there, I felt touched. The poor men on the Arizona and on the other ships were just going along with their daily schedule. They had no idea of the impending danger on its way. To be laughing and talking with friends and shipmates one minute, then the next trying to figure out what is going on around you as you hear gunfire and things explode. The terror these men must have felt I can not possibly imagine and hopefully never will. I walked on to see a wall before me, a wall of names. It had the names of all the men who had been aboard that vessel, the names of the dead. A cold slab of stone that would be completely smooth if it were not for the carved names in its surface. I stepped back away for a moment to see the full wall. I thought of how these men must have kissed their loved ones and said, Ill see you soon. The day they left for the islands of Haw...
