Today was an amazing day. Before I do anything else, I want to talk about the highlight of the day, in case I lose you later. Gregg and I were at a table for 4 for lunch by ourselves and one of the WWII veterans joined us. We had the unique opportunity of spending about an hour with him. The veteran is Courtland Pelton and he was accompanied by his adult grandson, Zac.
Mr. Pelton was a Seaman 3rd Class in the US Navy and only sixteen years old when he convinced his mother to lie to the enlistment board so that he could join. He drove a Higgin's Boat in WWII and served in Saipan, Guam, Tinian, Peleliu, Hawaii, and Iwo Jima. These are all of the places we're touching on our tour. There is a write up on him in our tour information, but we had to honor of talking to him about the normal things that came after the war and about his decision to come on this trip, some 78 years afterward.
Mr. Pelton was supposed to go on the tour in 2020, but Japan prevented the tour until this year because of Covid. Still wanting to go, he didn't exactly know how he was going to pay for himself and his grandson (a new dad) to go. He said that the museum turned his world upside down when they assured him that it was their honor to have him along and that he and Zac wouldn't have to pay a single dime for the trip. And it was, of course, our honor to spend some personal time with him today. When we had to leave, he firmly shook Gregg's hand and then opened his arms for me to hug him, which I did most gratefully. It's not something Gregg or I will be likely to forget. Of course, I completely forgot to get a picture, but I'll do that later on in the trip. Until then, the picture is from the tour brochure.
So I’ll back up and talk about the start of our day. Our tour bus is the “red” group and we have about 30 tour goers in our group, the museum guides, and author and historian James M. Scott, a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Gregg was very excited to have James assigned to our group, as he has read all of James’ books on WWII, most recently a book called Black Snow, which recounts some of the horrors of the Battle of Peleliu. As it turns out, James is a few years younger than us and is very personable. He and Gregg spent a lot of time during the day talking one-on-one about all things WWII.
Our first stop was the USS Missouri. Also on our tour bus was WWII veteran Ed Buffman, a Gunners Mate 2nd Class in the US Navy. Mr. Buffman talked while we were en route, and had actually served ON the USS Missouri while she was providing cover for battles in Iwo Jima and the Philippines, and also when a Kamikazi crashed into the deck. He said that the pilot was cut in half and his body was ejected onto the deck. He said that later they buried him at sea with full military honors. And Mr. Buffman was a witness to the surrender of the Japanese on board the USS Missouri.
Mr Buffman actually had some paperwork from the USS Missouri that had never been seen. So while we were touring the ship, he was meeting with the curators to go over the documentation and to donate it to the museum.
The tour guide was a Japanese American man named Neil. Neil’s grandfather’s brother was sent back to Japan in 1938 and was inducted into the Imperial Japanese Army. Neil’s grandfather was essentially kicked out of the ROTC at UH because of his ancestry after Peal Harbor, but eventually joined the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, earning a Bronze Star and 2 Purple Hearts. Neil’s grandfather and his grandfather’s brother, with a teenage Neil, finally met for the first time at the Arizona Memorial many years later.
After the USS Missouri, we went to the Pacific Aviation Museum. Gregg and I had been here a couple of times before, but this time their air conditioner was broken and it was HOT and HUMID. Thankfully, this is not an a very big museum so we briefly walked around. Gregg went with James Scott to tour the hangar while I found a shady spot.
We were supposed to leave to have lunch on the base on Ford Island, but the tour guide received a call while we were in the Museum saying that due to heightened security, the permission for our group to have lunch at the base had been revoked. Having to pivot, the guide (Sarah) bought the Aviation Museum Snack bar out of beer, chips, hot dogs and hamburgers, and this led to us having the opportunity to lunch with Mr. Pelton.
Our final stop for the day was the Pearl Harbor Memorial, which also sits next to the submarine USS Bowfin. And obviously I did not take the aerial picture at the top of this page, but I included it so that you can see exactly where the memorial sits atop the USS Arizona. Gregg and I have been here several times before, and it’s so incredibly moving. But the only picture we captured of the day is this one with the USS Missouri and Pearl Harbor Memorial side by side. I’m not exactly sure why. You’re just caught up in the reverence of the place.
After we returned back to our hotel, we actually had an hour of time to listen to presentations by author James Scott, as well as author Jonathan Parshall. I was worried that I would be too tired to be able to give it my full attention, but it was actually quite interesting, covering the briefly the attack on Pearl Harbor and then leading up to the battles for Tinian and for Peleliu, which we’ll cover in more detail over the coming days.
Tomorrow is a travel day, where we’ll leave Hawaii on Sunday afternoon and arrive in Saipan late Monday night.
Aloha!
~Dawn
