The last two days have been eventful and fun. I re-connected with my old Band of Brothers tour mates, Clyde, Phil, Peggy, and Rick, to check out Waikiki. We toured the Army Museum yesterday before meeting other members of our tour group at the orientation reception and dinner.
We met our lead historian, Don Farrell, an expert on the history of the central Pacific. He has lived in Guam and Tinian for more than three decades. We were also pleased that Chris Anderson, the historian for our Band of Brothers tour, is also here with us. If I’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that historians are VERY talkative. During dinner, Mr. Farrell spoke at length about Northern Marianas island history and let his own dinner get cold! He also said a number of fascinating things about the necessity of dropping the atomic bombs in 1945 and how doing so actually saved lives and hastened peace. I’ll be interested to hear more, as Hiroshima and Nagasaki are an important topics in my History 236 (U.S. History Since 1945) class. Most of my students come to accept that Truman had no other options, but a few still believe he erred by not exploring other alternatives. I plan to press Mr. Farrell to elaborate more about this.
Today, we head to the sites at Pearl Harbor. We’ll explore the new Pacific Aviation Museum, Ford Island, the USS Arizona, the USS Missouri, and end the day at the Punchbowl Cemetery. It’s time to shower and head to breakfast!
