We woke up in the morning to pouring down rain though the forecast was predicting clearing. It turned into a beautiful day. We had mangoes and hot crossed buns for breakfast.
We visited the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument at Pearl Harbor. We saw the USS Arizona Museum, not the Memorial, which had artifacts of the soldiers and civilians. There were several areas were stories of the survivors were told, some with audio. There was a display on the internment of Japanese Americans during the war. The Tree of Life sculpture was designed by Alfred Pres symbolizing rebirth, renewal and a reminder that we are all connected.
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| USS Arizona Memorial |
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| Tree of Life Sculpture |
We then visited the USS Missouri battleship which was huge. Japanese foreign affairs minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on board USS Missouri as General Richard K. Sutherland watched, September 2, 1945.
We explored 2.5 levels and Bill barely made it through the bulkhead doors because the openings were so low.
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| USS Missouri Battleship |
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| Battleship Guns |
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| Japanese Surrender Documents |
We then visited the National Aviation Museum of the Pacific. We saw a number of interesting planes, helicopters and flying machines. One of the most interesting was the a flying tiger plane complete with shark face!
Lastly, we saw the USS Bowfin Submarine and Museum. Tight spaces again and then we were done.
Today we visited the Immigration Museum which was very interesting. They had exhibits of what it would have been like to travel to Australia in a ship and where people came from. Melbourne never received any prisoners or indentured servants unlike other coastal cities. Most settlers were from Tasmania.
