The first day after we arrived in Hawaii, one of my Sailors reenlisted at the Arizona Memorial. This is a particularly special place to Engineers, because so many of those who died at Pearl Harbor were trapped deep in the engineering spaces. It's a nice piece of symmetry to have had one of my Engineers choose to continue his career here.
They open the Memorial early for those conducting ceremonies, which means that we were the first ones there that morning, and the only ones present for the 30 minutes we were allotted. It allowed for some greeat photos, like this one from the entrance through to the shrine in back.
And of course, the group shot.
What a fine looking group!
We have been to the Memorial, but it is now some years ago. I never knew they did this kind of thing there.
I am a DC native, and remember well the controversy about the Vietnam Memorial, and still think that given the conflicted nature of that war, it was entirely fitting. The later reactions to that memorial, I think validated it. This picture makes me think of that, and I wonder how long that part of the Memorial has been there. I can't quite make out the date on it from the photos on the Memorial website.
Please convey to your crew our gratitude for their service to our country, and our best wishes to your reenlistee.
Posted by: Iris | April 18, 2011 at 07:27 AM
I still can not get used to the new uniforms. I thought some were Marines at first glance. How do your sailors like the new shift in uniforms?
Posted by: Roy | April 18, 2011 at 01:33 PM
No! I was there the same time as you (parents live there) and didn't even know it!
Posted by: Leigh | April 20, 2011 at 09:55 AM