With Memorial Day weekend upon us, what better way to celebrate than with family, friends, baseball, and barbecues. It is also important to remember what the meaning of the holiday is and salute the brave soldiers that have served our country both presently and over the many years through our countries history.
History lives on at Pearl Harbor everyday with remembrance and tradition; and perhaps the most storied and touching tradition that lives on with the USS Arizona is the burial of the surviving crew members. Crew members who were assigned to the Arizona on December 7, 1941 have the right to have their remains cremated and interred inside the remains of the battleship. Those who were crew members before the fateful date, have the right to have their ashes scattered over the ship, also in a private ceremony. Accordingly, any survivor of the Pearl Harbor attacks can have their ashes scattered over the location in the harbor where their ship was located during the attack.
This tradition began on April 12, 1982 when retired Navy Chief Petty Officer Stanley M. Teslow was returned to his ship, becoming the first survivor to return. This tradition has since continued, and as of 2006, 28 surviving crew members have chosen to return to the ship on which they once served.
The process to return the survivor’s remains to the ship is a private ceremony for the families, consisting of a two-bell ceremony from the Fleet Reserve Association, a rifle salute from the U.S. Navy or Marine Corps, and a benediction with the echo of Taps being played across the harbor. These services are conducted inside the memorial and consist of an invocation, a funeral ceremony, and a flag presentation to the family. As the ceremony concludes, the urn with the remains of the sailor are presented to divers, who swim the urn into the open barbette of gun turret number four and proceed to a large opening where the urn is placed and slides into the ship.
Though these ceremonies are entirely private and restricted to family, you can discover Pearl Harbor on one of our tours. We offer many tour options and give you the best chance to see Pearl Harbor and tours are available from Big Island, Maui, and Kauai, as well as Oahu. We look forward to sharing Pearl Harbor with you and showing you our beautiful island.

Read more: Memorials at Pearl Harbor

Memorial Day weekend in Hawaii was blessed with great weather and some amazing ways to observe the Holiday. Below is a recap of what happened at Discover Hawaii Tours during our Memorial Day weekend. If you have any pictures or would like to share how you spent your Memorial Day please add them to the comments section below or to our Flickr Group Page.

Lantern Floating Hawaii Memorial Day 2009

Our tour guides reported that Pearl Harbor and Punchbowl National Cemetery were packed with people remembering those who have served in the US Armed services.

Pearl Harbor Tour

On the morning of Memorial Day I was able to get down to the Memorial Cemetary at the Byodo-In Temple, which we visit on our Pearl Harbor Tour, and found a number of people honoring U.S. men and women who died while in the military service. There were many families adding flowers, fruit, and ribbons to say thank you and remember their loved ones.

Memorial Day 2009

Monday evening I went down to Ala Moana Beach Park to watch and participate in the Lantern Floating Hawaii ceremnoy. The Lantern Floating ceremony is done to honor and remember all those who have given their lives in coflict and also prays for a peaceful and harmonious future. Thousands of people were down at Ala Moana Beach Park to watch the opening ceremonies and speaches and then float over 1,000 candle-lit lanterns out to sea.

Lantern Floating Hawaii Memorial Day 2009

Ala Moana Beach Park Lantern Floating 2009

If you have any pictures from Memorial Day please add them to our Flickr Group Page.

Read more: Memorial Day in Hawaii

Hawaii Memorial Day Activities

Are you visiting Hawaii during the upcoming Memorial Day holiday weekend? Hawaii has a very unique and important place in US military history and is an amazing place to observe Memorial Day.

USS Missouri Battleship at Pearl Harbor

Below is a list of the many things to see while observing Memorial Day in Hawaii:
Pearl Harbor Tour
Pearl Harbor and the Arizona Memorial offer an amazing historical experience of both US and World History. Pearl Harbor is a naval base famously attacked by the Japanese navy on December 7, 1941. This became known as a “Date which will live in infamy” when US President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed the nation with news of the attacks. The attack sank 4 US Naval battleships, most notably the USS Arizona, which is where the Pearl Harbor memorial now resides.

Pearl Harbor Visitors Center and Memorial

To best see all the sights at Pearl Harbor and the Arizona Memorial, and to ensure you will have tickets, you can take a guided tour with Discover Hawaii Tours.

Visit the USS Missouri
The USS Missouri, also known as the ‘Mighty Mo’, is a U.S. Navy battleship, and was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of Missouri. The USS Missouri was the last battleship built by the United States, and was the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan which ended World War II. The USS Missouri is full of US military history and can be combined with our Pearl Harbor Tour.

USS Missouri Battleship

Pacific Aviation Museum
The Pacific Aniation Museum, which is also located in our Pearl Harbor Tour, is an airplane hangar full of airplanes used to attack and defend Pearl Harbor.

National Memorial Cemetary at Punchbowl
Visiting the National Memorial Cemetery at Punchbowl is another great way to remember Memorial Day while in Hawaii. Inside the Punchbowl cemetary there is a memorial for those who have served in the United States Armed Forces.

On Memorial Day over 50,000 fresh flower lei are put on the graves of veterans, if you would like to donate a lei you can do so by contacting the City and County of Honolulu Parks and Recreation Department at 808-768-3002.

From the Punchbowl Cemetary you will also have a spectacular view of Honolulu down below. On Memorial Day, at 8:30 a.m. you can witness the 60th annual Mayor’s Memorial Day Ceremony.

Memorial at Punchbowl National Cemetary

Also, you can take one of our Hawaii Tours that visits the National Memorial Cemetary at Punchbowl.

Lantern Floating Ceremony at Ala Moana Beach Park
During this ceremony 1,000 candle-lit lanterns are floated out to sea. This ceremony is done to remember those who gave their lives in conflict and allows for reflection on the memories of loved ones and dedicates prayers for a peaceful and harmonious future.

This event will be held Monday, May 25, 2009 at 6.30 p.m. on Magic Island at Ala Moana Beach Park, for more information please visit the Lantern Floating Hawaii website http://www.lanternfloatinghawaii.com/index.html

If you have any further questions about observing Memorial Day in Hawaii please feel free to contact us:

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Read more: Hawaii Memorial Day Activities