Just one more patriotic post – I’ll call it a theme week.
I’ve been looking into retired US Battleships around the U.S., and I find their stories incredibly moving. The USS Alabama for instance was nicknamed “Lucky A” because it never lost a sailor in battle. It was schoolchildren in Alabama who led the fundraising crusade to allow the ship to retire in the state whose name it bears.
My sentimental favorite, though, has to be the USS Missouri. On this ship in 1945 the Japanese surrender was signed that eventually led to the end of World War II. The USS Missouri continued to see action in both the Korean and Gulf Wars. It was only retired in 1992. Several ships were retired in the early 90s after the fall of the Soviet Union.
The USS Missouri now rests in Pearl Harbor. You probably know that the USS Arizona sunk in Pearl Harbor when it was attacked in 1942. The ship remains where it sunk and serves as the grave for the sailors who were on board that day. The USS Missouri rests with it’s bow gracefully pointed toward the memorial for the USS Arizona. This was intentional and meant to infer the USS Missouri’s standing guard over Arizona to allow the fallen sailors to rest in peace.
This is just one more place in our country where the excellence of our military shines. I wrote a post last month about the exotic aspect of Hawaii, the beach-heavy, helicopter rides over beautiful scenery, dreamy aspect of the islands. But don’t rule out Hawaii educational tours as well, and Pearl Harbor is just one of the beautiful, thought-provoking attractions that will enrich a student’s lessons in history.
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