Our Wahanee of the Pacific General Conference

As seen in this exclusive clip, the membership of Our Wahanee of the Pacific met in a general conference this weekend. Worshippers clad only in the most humble of attire paddled some 200 yards from their houses of worship to await the coming of "The Big One." The faithful congregated together, lying prostrate in their ceremonial form of prayer and adoration, with hopful eyes looking forward with faith in every stroke. Suddenly, a heavenly chorus erupted in Rock and Roll Surf-upulous Splendor as the elder and more spiritual followers rose to their feet and were carried away in a most splendid rapture. The unworthy were left behind, pondering what might have been had they been more faithful. To have been a witness of the holy event was indeed a journal entry of great worth.

Diamond Head for Dummies

When we flew in I caught this shot of Diamond head below. You can see the crater and the rim. Our hotel is in the little bay just above the rim of the window. This is a little better shot of the entire park, which I did not take, by the way. You enter the crater through a tunnel and then pay inside the park. It is a 1.5 mile walk one-way, but rather steep. The first part is paved. I was amazed at how dry it was and how parched the vegetation. The hike starts at those buildings and zig-zags diagonally up the inside of the crater. At one point it is necessary to go inside a tunnel. This is part of the bunker that was built for artillery fortification. It was convenient for us because the misty weather was turning to rain. This is the inside view of the bunker that looks out over the harbor. You had to crawl out through the narrow four-foot slit to continue the ramaining short distance to the top.

The view from the top was beautiful. Our hotel is about in the center of the picture. Did I mention it was beginning to rain? Just after this picture was taken from the top of Diamond Head it began to rain. We made it back down into the tunnel and by the time we got out it had quit raining and was beginning to dry out. I can't remember how many of those I went through in Central America.

When we got down a dude in a beat-up limo said he would take us back for $13 each. I wondered if it would make it that far. Jan did some good bargaining and we agreed on just $3, but he wanted to see if he could find some others to go as well, so as we were driving along he talked three Japanese students into paying the same, so we all rode together. Duct tape and hope were about all that was holding the once luxurious limo together, but it was better than riding in the bus and stopping at every stop, and it was certainly better than walking.

Attack on Pearl Harbor

This is a Japanese "Zero," like the ones that attacked Pearl Harbor. It was a lazy Sunday morning that suggested nothing more than a typical tropical day. Planes were parked closely together, which made the bombing more effective. The battleships were parked in pairs on "Battleship Row," which protected the ones on the inside from torpedoes, but easy targets for the bombers. Planes like these had developed a new torpedo that would run in the shallow waters of the harbor. Sailors were shooting at these planes with M1 rifles, which didn't do much damage. The planes were so low to the ground they could see the faces of the pilots. Many of the firefighters and rescue people were shot by machine gun fire from the planes as they tried to save others and put out the fires. A few planes like these got off the ground and into the fight. Again, the average age for most of these people was under twenty years old. This was their first real fight. Dolittle was assigned to make a retaliatory strike. This is the kind of plane he flew along with several others. They had the idea to adapt the planes so that they could launch from an aircraft carrier, which had never been done before. They took a big chance, were able to take off in the short distance on the deck, and bombed Japan. They flew across Japan and crashed with empty fuel tanks in China. This is the control tower at Ford Field. It gave me a strange feeling to see actual bullet holes in windows left from the attack. They left many things as an historical preserve.

More than just a bath

Being a true Pisces, this is the place to be. You can see Diamond Head at the top of this photo and our apartment about half-way down. What a place for a bath. My playground is a bit crowded in the afternoon, so I went out before the sun came up. No, that is not me. Just a fellow Pisces. Do I have the faith to walk on water? Why bother? The water is cool, not cold. It takes about zero seconds to get used to it. No shivering anywhere. There is evidence in this photo that Jan has been shopping. This is a view from our apartment on floor 12. In the center of the picture is a lone figure swimming parallel to the beach. That would be me. Yes, Brandon, I prefer this size of tub. The only problem is figuring out how to read without the pages getting wet.

The Mighty Missouri

This is the view from the wreck of the Arizona. Overlooking the site is the Missorui battleship, now decommissioned and serving as a museum. Most of the smaller anti-aircraft guns have been removed.

I was so impressed with the massive guns. They can shoot a shell over twenty miles. The ship was last used in Desert Storm in Iraq. It "softened up" the shoreline before the invasion. Inside the ship made you feel a little claustrophobic. You have to step over each threashold, which is designed so that you can seal off the doors in case of flooding. Sleeping quarters shown are shown as being bigger and more spacious than they actually were. It was like a floating city wit h crew members stacked everywhere. The average age of those who served was under 19 years of age. This is Captain Shirley, sitting in the Captain's Chair on the main tower. Most of the instruments have been removed, but you definitely get a feel for the actual size of this monster. This is the Captain's view looking out over the bow. Directly in front is the Arizona Memorial. This is the actual spot on the deck where the Japanese officially surrendered. Throughout the tour there was a feeling of reverence for those who gave their lives for our freedom as well as those who survived and were never the same. I came away with a greater sense of appriciation for our freedom.

Pearl Harbor - USS Arizona

We took the tour of the USS Arizona. It is situated right over the wreck of the Arizona as seen below. You can see from the picture I took of the model in the museum how it looks. The round thing is the base of the turret that held the upper guns. Another one was just below it. The guns could shoot shells 20 miles.

The sun reflected off the oil which still leaks from the wreck. As a token of respect to those who died it was decided not to remove the oil. It is considered a national cemetery and entering the memorial gives you a deep sense of respect and sadness. I noticed among those who died was a sailor with the last name of Shirley.

The day after the attack, Grandpa Shirley went down and signed up, as did Grandpa Kinghorn. That generation is referred to many times during the tour as "The Greatest Generation." I think they are right.

Paw

Aloha from Haw-Vai-Eeehaw

This is our little grass shack on the beach. I got up early and went for a walk as the sun was coming up just to the left of Diamond Head. Later in the afternoon I went for a swim. I was able to walk out about fifty to sixty yards and still touch bottom. A band was playing some Hawaiian music on the beach and a warm breeze was blowing. It was like heaven, except that all of you were not here with us. I saw little kids running up and down the beach, making sand castles and trying to keep the rising tide from washing things away. What good is heaven without all of you. We love you, Paw.