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Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is found on the
island of Oahu, Hawaii, and is considered one of the most
historically significant places in our country related to the second
World War. Here, in the early morning hours of December 7, 1941,
Japanese aircraft attacked the United States Navy's Pacific Fleet,
which became the straw that broke the camel's back and we entered
into the World War that had been drawing us ever closer to it. It
became the war cry for those serving in the Pacific for the
remainder of the war against Japan. Today, Pearl Harbor hosts over
1.5 million visitors each year, many coming here to visit those sad
memorials of the ships and men that were sent to the bottom of the
harbor. Some come here to enjoy the beauty of the island and harbor,
that was the reason for the name of Pearl. An American cannot go
there without solemn memories of that terrible infamous day that is
still remembered even today and every year as December rolls around.
When you do go there, for whatever reasons, remember that there is a
new policy that went into effect after 9/11, that requires you to
carry only a camera, no bags allowed that could possibly conceal any
type of weapon or destructive materials. It is a sad state of
affairs, but one that now haunts us at every turn, wherever we go in
this country, in this world. But, there is another Pearl Harbor,
where once, the harbor held a treasure of pearl-producing oysters up
until the late 1800s, and the beautiful waters of blue and aqua were
too shallow to allow the huge ships that came here in the 1940s to
gather supplies and make any necessary transfers. The area was
originally a large shallow embayment that was called Wai Momi, which
meant pearl water, or Pu'uloa, meaning long hill, by the local
natives. They thought it was the home of the shark goddess,
Ka'ahupahau and her brother, Kahi'uka of their old legends.
Over the centuries, the United States gained more and more influence
on the Hawaiian Islands and many saw the annexation writing on the
wall. Towards the end of the 19th century, the United States was
granted a long term lease for the usage of Pearl Harbor as a naval
base, and the Spanish-American War in 1898 helped that decision in
this country; since the Americans wanted to have a significant
presence in the Pacific to protect their merchant ships and whaling
ships. By 1900, Naval Station, Hawaii was firmly established, and
this allowed the Navy to begin surveying the islands of Guam and
Midway. It was during the period from 1900 to 1908 that the harbor
was dredged and the channel made bigger to accommodate larger naval
ships, and the naval reservation was built with many houses, machine
shops and the like. In 1903, the first battleship to enter the
harbor was the Wisconsin, which came in for coal, water and
supplies. Following these developments, the naval station was soon
under the attention of the Army department, in hopes of building
army facilities there, which did not sit well with the navy since
they had done a lot of work and could see that the army might
eventually try to take control; but it was useless since other
departments became involved in the growth of the naval station and
the surrounding lands. In 1908, the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard
opened, but in 1913, just before its completion, the drydocks caved
and that plan was soon scrapped. As the years passed and the
American influence continued to grow in the area, the Japanese went
to war with China, and it soon became of some concern to this
country which had a mock attack on Pearl Harbor in 1933; and the
attack was a complete success, with the defense considered a
failure. Why the naval station wasn't improved to protect it from
attack is not known, but less than 8 years later, the Empire of
Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and caused incredible and unbelievable
devastation with a huge loss of life. American had decoded messages
enough by the Japanese to know that an attack was going to happen,
they just didn't know where until it happened. We all know the rest,
and we will remember. The base was made a National Historic
Landmark, January 29, 1964 and there are numerous other landmarks
that are related to the attack; that includes, the Arizona, Bowfin
and Utah.
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