Pearl Harbor Archives ~ Beth Terry

Remembering Pearl Harbor

Posted on December 7, 2015 by Beth Terry — No Comments ↓

Living in Hawaii, Pearl Harbor is a Big Deal

Pearl Harbor, © 2015 Beth Terry — Pearl Harbor Flag flies above the Arizona Memorial in Hawaii

Living in Hawaii for 30 years gave me a different perspective on a lot of things. Pearl Harbor is no exception. So many people in the US forget about it, or, as one 20-something college student said to me, “Oh Pearl Harbor, that’s like a bombing or something that started a war, right?” Sigh.

I was dismayed back on 9/11/01, while sitting in my Hawaii living room to hear a mainstream media news anchor declare that “The 9/11 attack was the first-ever attack on American soil!” Really?

We forget history at our peril.

It’s fitting that a 74-year anniversary ceremony is being held today at the Arizona Memorial. I have met several of the survivors and their stories* still send chills down my spine.

We recently visited the Arizona Memorial again. It is a solemn and important monument that should be on everyone’s bucket list. There were Japanese from the Hiroshima area in our tour group, and they were not only very polite and respectful, one of them apologized to me for Pearl Harbor. I accepted her apology and then apologized for Hiroshima. We gave each other a little hug and went on our way.

Today is a good day to reflect upon and remember the ramifications of war for both sides.

Thank you to all of the Veterans who volunteer at the Memorial and keep the memories alive. May God Bless those survivors and their families on all sides of WWII, and on all sides of every conflict today.

* Be sure and watch all the stories on youtube attached to the ones I linked you to. It’s a sobering front row to history.

Blessings,

© 2015 Beth Terry • All Rights Reserved

Never thought about that – Traffic Jams

Posted on September 16, 2015 by Beth Terry — No Comments ↓

The Kaleidoscope Effect – Everything has another side to it and nothing is as it seems

@2015 Beth Terry Traffic Jam view — Sometimes slow is a blessing

It was a usual drive-time-slow-jam on the freeway. I didn’t mind it when I was alone. It was expected and I usually would put on some Aretha Franklin music and dance to it in my car. But this day was different. I had a mainland guest with me and felt somehow responsible for the traffic jam. She was coming with me to work and was going to use my car while I was busy.

I muttered and swore under my breath at the idiots on the road who caused even more problems than usual on this sunny day in Hawaii. She ignored me and kept exclaiming at the beauty and wonder of scenery I had seen thousands of times.

“Oh! Look at those birds! They’re beautiful! What are they?”

Me, “Egrets. I don’t know how they got here. They don’t look like they could fly across the Pacific … mumble grumble mumble.”

“They’re elegant! They look like mini-cranes! Oh! Look at that, is that Pearl Harbor?”

“Yeah. Oh LOOK at that guy! He’s the cause of this traffic! Why doesn’t he pull his car to the side!”

“Is that why they call it Pearl Harbor? It looks like a gray pearl in the morning sunlight! WOW!”

“I don’t know. I think it had to do with finding pearls there before all those ships came in… Oh, come ON people! Don’t WALK YOUR CARS! DRIVE!”

“Look at that pink building up there! What is that? It looks like a Parrish painting. It almost looks like it’s floating in the middle of all that green!”

“Oh, that’s Tripler Hospital. I don’t know why they painted it pink. Prolly got extra paint from the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. Come ON PEOPLE!”

Traffic came to a complete stop and she put her hand on my shoulder. “Beth, you are so lucky to have slow traffic in an area as beautiful as this. All I see are semi-trucks on all four sides of me at home. If I didn’t have a sun roof, I wouldn’t even know what kind of day it was. And it’s usually smoggy and ugly. Here, you can look over there and see down the valley. You can look up to the mountains and see the beauty of Hawaii every single day on the way to work. Wow. You are so very, very lucky.”

I stopped grumbling and looked around. She was right. Time to wake up. People spend their entire life savings to come to the islands. I get to “go to Hawaii” every weekend. And during the week, I’m treated to some of the most amazing and beautiful scenery the world has to offer.

I never looked at traffic jams the same since.

How ’bout you?

Cheers,