Is Pearl Habor a must?

[LovesTimone]

Yes...

This is World history, not just US history...

We always need to look back and be aware, those men and women should be honored and remembered, those that gave the last full measure for freedom.
We all need to look forward so that the same mistakes are not made again. That peace and freedom are precious, and that freedom is not free, Real people, everyday people gave everything so that we are free... and what that freedom brings... Responsibility... to teach the generations behind us what happened, and that this is something that we don't want to ever happen again.

I have been lucky enough to visit Pearl Harbor, and it was emotionally moving and makes you stop and realize just how lucky we are...

 

[pjacobi]

I think each country has their own end of WWII. For us in the Netherlands, it's May 5th, in Hotel The World in Wageningen where the Orders of Surrender are signed.

At the signing of the Articles of Japanese Surrender on board the USS Missouri, were representatives from China, Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, including Dutch vice admiral Conrad Emil Lambert Helfrich.

USS Missouri (BB-63) - Wikipedia

A little pause in my vacation for remembrance is nothing compared to those that gave the ultimate sacrifice.


-Paul

 

[Karin1984]

At the signing of the Articles of Japanese Surrender on board the USS Missouri, were representatives from China, Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, including Dutch vice admiral Conrad Emil Lambert Helfrich.

USS Missouri (BB-63) - Wikipedia

A little pause in my vacation for remembrance is nothing compared to those that gave the ultimate sacrifice.


-Paul

Thank you for the link, before this thread I had never heard of the USS Missouri, and I vaguely know what Pearl Harbour was about.

Let's say, the Dutch have a very different relationship with WWII than the US. Maybe an oversimplified explanation is living in the war and looking at it from the outside. Surviving versus helping (or the greater good).
For us, the ultimate sacrifice is not about the military force, but those who had to eat flower bulbs to survive the final Winter. The ultimate sacrifice, and phrases like 'those who gave our lives so we can life in freedom' are very rare here. We do say 'lest we forget, only that's in reference to the horrors of war in general. To those who suffered, being taken away from their houses, camps, forced employment in Germany, etc. The social impact of war.

What I can say for myself, to me, everything military has very little to do with WWII. On May 4th, our Remembrance day, my two minutes of silence are for my grandfather and his uncle who were imprisoned in a camp and the horrors of war. Fear, angst, hunger are a different thing to remember than the fighting and the military.
The military our out my frame of reference. Not consciously, just how I was raised and schooled. When on holiday, I felt much more when I visited the Holocaust memorial in Berlin than the cemetery in Normandy.

Therefore if I chose to visit something WWII related or general war related on holiday it has to be something I can connect with. Otherwise, it means nothing. Then it's visiting because it's on the list of famous landmarks for tourists to visit. And I don't think that's right with these sort of landmarks.

I think if you chose to visit Pearl Harbor it has to be because you feel a connection or because you have an interest in this part of war history.

 

[badiggio]

here's some trivia;the Missouri was featured in the movie "Battleship" and it was also featured for Cher's video of "IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME"

 

[shon]

Being Canadian as well, I wouldn’t say it is a must do but I did enjoy the experience, as somber and serious the memorial is. No it isn’t a part of our history, but living on the West Coast, I do appreciate what the memorial stands for and how close to home it is. We’ve done it three times and I think the ages of your children are great to spend a morning here, it’s only half a day and being from the east coast you guys will be up anyways so maybe do it early on in the trip when everyone is still up early.