Hello everyone,
Up until recently, I have never been to Hawaii for USMC business (or anything, for that matter). But last week, I had to go there for a conference at Pacific Command (PACOM) regarding the Joint Strike Fighter, aka the F-35. My stake in that (and by extension the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing's - or is it the other way around) is that to get something that transmits a radio signal used in Japan, it has to go through an evaluation process at Japan's Ministry of Interior Affairs and Communications (MIC). The guy who works the documents required for this (DD-1494s if you care) was the one coming to PACOM so I went to get in on the meeting and meet with him afterward. Maybe that's interesting and maybe it isn't, but while I was there, I got to go to Ford Island and visit the historic sites there. I must tell you it was a dream come true. Among the sites I saw were the USS Utah memorial, the USS Missouri, the USS Oklahoma memorial and the USS Arizona. I will post some pictures here but you can see them all at my Picasa site here.
The Utah Memorial
Better shot of what is left of the ship
The Oklahoma memorial
Markers for each man who died
Mighty Mo!
16" whoop-ass!
Mind blowing 1/96th scale model now in the Ward Room
In her WWII configuration
The Combat Engagement Center - used in the movie Battleship
The Marine Mount 5"