USS Arizona Memorial

start in the friendly skies.

Before we return to the action of the hula ball game, here is a film sequence showing the North and South All-Stars on a Navy launch approaching the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor.

And, Bud, this certainly reminds them of their American heritage.

I believe...

I was sitting in the food court at Ala Wana Center, phone open, eyes locked on the clock, waiting for 2.55 to take over so I could jump online and grab a spot for the USS Arizona Memorial the next morning.

Those reservations release at 3 p.m. sharp, and even sitting there refreshing the page the second it hit 3 o'clock, I barely got a slot before the day filled up.

That's the reality of Hawaii reservations right now.

Hours move around too, and depending on what's happening on the ground, sometimes an entire park closes without much warning at all.

So I'm redoing this one with everything current as of today, plus a few new systems worth putting on your radar before you land.

That scramble at Aulana was for the USS Arizona Memorial, and it's still one of the strictest reservations in the state, even though it's also one of the most moving places you'll visit in Hawaii.

Every single visitor needs a timed ticket, even though admission is free.

Booking opens 56 days ahead at 3 p.m. Hawaii time, and it goes fast.

Because of the brutal attacks in 1941, it has also become a well-known memorial site, receiving an average of 1.8 million visitors every year, and some of them experience more than they expected.

Out of all the museums and historic World War II buildings on site, the USS Arizona Memorial is one that stands out.

The battleship is sitting on the harbor floor, a corroded and metal husk of its former self visible just below the surface of the water.

If you've seen it, maybe you have also contemplated the horrible reality that the remains of hundreds of its crew are still down there, trapped inside.

Above the ship, the Navy has constructed a white concrete and steel structure which can be reached by a short ferry ride, allowing visitors to view the ship from above.

In 2011, an Australian woman named Suzanne Devaney visited the Arizona Memorial along with her family.

Taking in the solemn beauty of the monument, Suzanne began snapping photos of the interior as well as the sunken ship.

Her visit to the memorial was an emotional and somewhat haunting experience by itself, but unbeknownst to her, Susan had captured something even more haunting on her camera.

Here on Monday, we'll head over to the Polynesian Culture Center for a luau show with the Hula Girls.

I did post some photos from our trip to the USS Missouri and the USS Arizona Memorial.

What an incredible, amazing tribute to so many who sacrificed their lives for this country.

Kind of humbling to stand in the exact spot where World War II ended on the deck of the Missouri and stand over the tomb of over 900 sailors who went down With the Arizona, of the 1,177 men who died in less than 10 minutes from the time the first shell hit, went through the deck into the ship's magazine hold, containing 3 million pounds of gunpowder, bombs, and shells, The video we saw was terrifying.

Tons of great articles, tons of great ideas of what to explore.

Even, you know, doing things like going to Pearl Harbor and taking a look at the Arizona Memorial and some of the other museums and stuff like that there.

We talk about all that stuff and more.

Variety of activities to cater to any age group.

And it's interesting you mention that because I know there was a design circulating and it looked familiar to what I was looking at.

As we were planning this broadcast and I guess so his design had already been Selected when I was out there last in 2006 And of course obviously things morph and grow and and and and the design evolves But you know what? I likened it to at least that design that I had seen at that point as I said it reminded me of the of the Arizona I'm sorry I get emotional about this site quite a bit, Chris.

But it was reminiscent to me of the Arizona Memorial, where there's just such an elegant, gentle... design of it that almost belies the horrific things that had to happen there before this arrived.

And do you feel like that was intentional when you talked to the architect, Paul Murdoch? Was that his idea was to put something graceful and beautiful where, you know, a nightmare had taken place?

Every single element, Joe, of this design was so carefully planned and And it folds in beautifully with this rural Pennsylvania landscape.

And that is incorrect.

We will be seeing the USS Arizona Memorial.

That is very important to me.

It's on my list.

He's going after Kash Patel.

What's Kash Patel's record, by the way? As FBI director? How does he compare to, like, let's see, the last two FBI directors? [laughs] Kash Patel's the scandal guy? That's what you're saying? Remember when they tried to turn a scandal out of the fact that he visited the Arizona Memorial? Do you guys remember this? Kash Patel visited the Arizona Memorial.

It's a scandal.

Why was it a scandal? Because he got to see it through a snorkel mask.