Inside the USS
Arizona Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii, there is a listing of men who survived the initial attack on the
Arizona on December 7, 1941, but later chose to be interred with their shipmates. According to
a National Park Service (NPS) website,
Since the early 1980s, the cremated remains of men who served aboard USS Arizona have been deposited at the USS Arizona Memorial. Pearl Harbor survivors -- those men who were formally assigned to the ship on December 7, 1941 -- may have their ashes entombed within the ship, while other USS Arizona veterans may have their ashes scattered on the water directly over the vessel.
The
most recent interment, of retired Lieutenant Commander Anthony Robert Schubert (then an ensign),
occurred on May 7, 2010, about two weeks before our visit to the Memorial. Our tour guide, NPS ranger Kennedy Forsythe, described the ceremony, where at the end an NPS diver holds the urn of cremains above his/her head while slowly descending "into the open barbette of gun turret number four and proceed to a large open 'slot' that measures approximately 6" x 5'. The urn is placed into this slot and slides into the ship," (according to an
NPS FAQ).
The ship is still
leaking oil--you can sometimes see an oil sheen on the surface around the memorial. The "official" word is that the
Arizona will leak for another 50-75 years, but the legend is that she will stop leaking once all of the survivors have passed away. There are
at least 21 survivors left as of today. Forsythe said that all have announced that they plan to be interred in the
Arizona with their shipmates. The ranger said that the survivors believe that the
Arizona is "crying" and that will stop once the entire crew is together again.
© Amanda Pape - 2010
Taken outside Holy Innocents Episcopal Church on 24 May 2010. This flower is often used in making leis. My mother used to grow frangipani in Houston when I was a kid.
Inside the USS Arizona Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii, there is a listing of men who survived the initial attack on the Arizona on December 7, 1941, but later chose to be interred with their shipmates. According to a National Park Service (NPS) website,
These photos were taken sometime between April 4, 1957 (when I was born - yup, the nekkid baby is me) and the end of September 1957, the date stamped on the prints that indicates when they were processed. My parents were living in Chicago, Illinois, then, but I think these pictures might have been taken on a visit to Houston - note the palm tree in the background. I'm guessing summer - maybe even Father's Day. Dad was 28 then and he is 81 now. Notice all the diapers hanging on the clothesline!
Moa running away from me (the chickens!) at Russian Fort Elizabeth State Historical Park just outside Waimea on Kauai, Hawaii.
This is a view of the upper or mauka (pronounced "mau-kah," in Hawaiian it means heading towards the mountains or inland) cemetery at the famous St. Benedict Roman Catholic Church (aka "The Painted Church") in the town of Captain Cook, south of Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. Click on the photo for a bigger view.
My son Eric, born in 1986 at 4:12 PM, one month early (yes he was a preemie), weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces, 19 and 3/4 inches long, head circumference 13 and 1/2 inches.
Just got back yesterday from nine nights in Hawaii...
