Pearl Harbor: USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma Memorial, USS Missouri

On April 29, the seventh day of my fortieth anniversary Hawaii cruise with the lovely Robin, we sailed into Honolulu aboard our cruise ship, the Grand Princess. I took the above photo from our balcony.

Soon after breakfast, we boarded a bus to our excursion in Pearl Harbor.

After watching an amazing film that included much actual footage (both American and Japanese) of the Pearl Harbor attack, we boarded a tender to the USS Arizona Memorial (above). Wow. So memorable and profound.

We also briefly visited the USS Oklahoma Memorial before moving on to the decks of the USS Missouri. 

Amazingly, in just a couple hours, we stood where the U.S. involvement in World War II both began (with the sinking of the Arizona, among many other ships damaged or sunk on December 7, 1941) and ended.  The USS Missouri is the ship on which the scene below took place, as General MacArthur and others signed the surrender of the Japanese forces on September 2, 1945. 

Today, a plate (below) marks the spot where the surrender was signed. Incredible. 

After our guide (Bob) took us around the deck and expertly answered our questions, the lovely Robin and I toured as much of the mighty battleship below decks as we could, learning loads along the way. We were so glad to have included this excursion in our plans, something we will never forget.