A day that will live in infamy
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Stunning place.
What struck me... Other than the sadness for the Arizona and the men entombed there, was how small the place actually is. The pictures and films make it seem much larger than it actually is.
One of the great untold stories (at least from a Hollywood standpoint) is what happened afterward and the successful reclaiming of the numerous ships.
And maybe even sadder than the Arizona was the fact that 3 sailors survived within the capsized West Virginia for 16 days before they succumbed. At first their knocking on the hull was just attributed to random noise. Eventually it became apparent that there were sailors still alive within the West Virginia but there was no way to get them out in time (couldn't use a blow torch because of all the gas & oil covering everything). Men did not want to stand guard near the ship because the knocking noise was so unnerving knowing there was nothing that could be done.
Eventually the three were found and all their families were told was that they died during the attack. It was only years later that they found out that they died 16 days after the attacked entombed in a ship and no one could reach them before they ran out of air.
What struck me... Other than the sadness for the Arizona and the men entombed there, was how small the place actually is. The pictures and films make it seem much larger than it actually is.
One of the great untold stories (at least from a Hollywood standpoint) is what happened afterward and the successful reclaiming of the numerous ships.
And maybe even sadder than the Arizona was the fact that 3 sailors survived within the capsized West Virginia for 16 days before they succumbed. At first their knocking on the hull was just attributed to random noise. Eventually it became apparent that there were sailors still alive within the West Virginia but there was no way to get them out in time (couldn't use a blow torch because of all the gas & oil covering everything). Men did not want to stand guard near the ship because the knocking noise was so unnerving knowing there was nothing that could be done.
Eventually the three were found and all their families were told was that they died during the attack. It was only years later that they found out that they died 16 days after the attacked entombed in a ship and no one could reach them before they ran out of air.