Pacific Aviation Museum, Pearl Harbor

After 31 days in Hawaii, we are back to where our touring began on the first day--Pearl Harbor. Near our Navy Lodge on Ford Island is the Pacific Aviation Museum. It is housed in an old hanger that escaped the destruction of Dec. 7, 1941.

Gloria was feeling much better yesterday, so we did a short tour of the island and had lunch at the museum. Near this island is where the Arizona, Utah, California and other ships were sunk by 300 Japanese planes. A photo shows the bombs and torpedos they used. Several seaman tried to escape their exploding, sinking ships by swimming to shore here. They were mercilessly machine gunned by Japanese pilots.

Billy Mitchell, Father of the Air Force, had predicted back in 1926 that such an attack would eventually occur on Pearl Harbor. His profound thesis was unacceptable to the higher command. Hence, we were amazingly unprepared when his prediction came true 15 years later. In addition to the loss of our ships, most of our planes on Pearl Harbor were destroyed while on the runways or in hangers.

The Japanese had surprised us by launching the world's first aircraft carrier strike. On that Sunday morning, they came from about 200 miles away. Six months later, the four carriers from which their planes were launched were sunk by our forces at Midway Island. During the war, we all chanted and sang, "Remember Pearl Harbor." The war greatly affected those who remember it and the young men who died to protect our nation.

The Aviation Museum contains many wonderful exhibits. One is a red light aircraft that was piloted by a Honolulu attorney on the morning of Dec. 7. He and his 17 year old son were simply out for a leisurely morning flight. Suddenly, they were surrounded by Japanese Zeros on their way to Pearl Harbor, Bellows Air Base, Koneohe, and Hickam Airfield. A couple pilots left their formation and fired on the helpless little plane. This would be the first air to air encounter in WW II. The fortunate attorney landed his aircraft safely after taking a couple of hits in the rear of his fuselage.

The yellow bi-wing Stearman was the very plane that a future famous cadet would use for his first solo flight in 1942. His name was George Herbert Walker Bush. The Wildcat fighter plane was like the one piloted by Joe Fose, a Marine Corps ace pilot. He shot down 26 Japanese plans during only a 42-day period in the Battle of Guadacanal. Fose would later become Governor of South Dakota.

Before concluding our island tour, we stopped to see the USS Missouri. That mighty battleship saw action in WW II and Vietnam. During the latter confllict, it was commanded by one of our Virginia neighbors, who eventually became an admiral.