The Ensign and the Holiday Ensign

Yesterday was my first Sunday morning here on Oahu. I'll never forget it. The skies were a little cloudy w/ the occasional rain shower (which I'm quickly learning makes rainbows all over the place). But, as I crossed the bridge to Ford Island around 7:30, the sun lit up both the USS Arizona Memorial and USS Missouri. As awe inspiring as they are, they churn the pit of your stomach.

This photo shows USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) sailing past the  USS Arizona Memorial  and USS Missouri moored behind it. Part of Arizona's forward turret is still above water and the flag flies from a remnant of the ships mast. 

Only one of these two ships was here on Sunday, December 7, 1941. And it never moved again. Arizona was sunk in the attack on Pearl Harbor. The ship is exactly where it was then and 1,102 of its 1,177 Sailors are entombed in it. Around the time of this photo, 0745, on that terrible Sunday, some men were sleeping off the previous night. Others had the dreaded weekend duty blues - and at least three of those guys were mustering for morning colors. It would be the last for USS Arizona.

My intention was simply to observe (salute the flag as it's raised for the day, every day at 0800) at either the Arizona or Missouri. Being that both ships are decommissioned, it was likely colors wouldn't be officially observed - but it was worth a shot and something I've wanted to do since sailing through the harbor in 1999, manning the rails of my first ship as a seaman recruit.

Seeing both these Navy ships from the deck of a Navy ship is THE most incredible way to visit Pearl Harbor. Driving a car up to the memorial and just isn't quite the same.

Stepping out, I expected silence in the somber mood. Even though I was hundreds of yards away, I could her her hum just like any Navy ship I've been on. The Mighty Mo' still sounds like it could get underway today. It was incredible to hear life coming from the ship - amidst the juxtaposition the sunk Arizona right in front of her.

The United States' role in WWII began on board USS Arizona with Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and ended with the Japan's surrender in Tokyo Bay on board USS Missouri just under five years later. More than 1 million American service members were either killed or wounded from beginning to end. There is just no way to understand what that truly means unless you were part of it. I felt observing colors here was my way of respecting those who came before me wearing the same uniform I do.

Well come to find out, neither ship does colors. The Arizona memorial (above) always flies the ensign. A flagpole is affixed to part of Arizona's mangled mast. The Missouri staff (now US National Park Service), however, still hauls up and lowers the flag every day in unison w/ the active ships across the water in Pearl Harbor. So I went to go watch it.

You should have seen the looks I got walking up to the ship in my summer whites - the only person there at 7:50 a.m. Can you believe no one goes to see this happen?

The Missouri doesn't open for tours till 8 a.m., which would have been after colors. I explained my purpose to the pier guard, who radioed the topside guide and asked what they could do. The guide walked me to the fantail where his colleague handed me the flag and told me to raise it - something that hasn't happened on board by a military member in uniform in who knows how long...

I got so wrapped up in the moment of preparing, raising the flag and tying it off and rendering the sharpest of salutes, that I lost track of time. As the prep horns blew for first call to colors at 0755, Arizona would already have been hit. At 0800 the the national anthem begins. Everyone within earshot instinctively faces the flag, salutes if covered (wearing a military uniform w/ hat) and stands at attention until the end of the song. Three whistles will blow. By then an armor-piercing bomb would be headed toward Arizona. At 0810 the bomb would set off Arizona's forward battery, ripping the ship apart. At 8:05 a.m. I dropped my salute and the guide took a couple more photos of me standing by the flag - honored at what I was doing. 

In the time it took to do a military-wide morning routine, an entire fleet was bombed and more than a thousand men would die. There is no more humbling feeling or honor. I'd hoped to do colors at least one more time as it's generally done by junior enlisted folks. What an incredible experience.