Originally Posted by RockyMtnMerlin
Having been stationed on Ford Island (3rd Fleet Staff) and having studied a bit of the attack on Ford Island, I think you meant to say USS Utah. The USS Iowa was not sunk at Pearl Harbor. In fact she was decommssioned in Oct 1990. FWIW an interesting historical note. I was a LCDR at Pearl Harbor from 1986-1988 and I was once assigned escort duty to a VIP to visit the USS Arizona Memorial. It came as a shock to me (and is historically wierd) that the officer I escorted to the Arizona Memorial was Admiral Yamamoto, head of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force (Japanese Navy)intelligence department. The Park Serice suspended visits to the Memorial while we were there. He laid a wreath and was truly contemplative and seemed very moved by the visit. I do not know if he was a relative of the (in)famous WWII Admiral Yamamoto.
You are right, I did mean USS Utah. Must have been thinking of ILTB and N C in Iowa while typing. I normally try and visit the USS Utah on Memorial Day, and reread the lost heros names. The hull is still there with a fair amount above surface. All my visits to the USS Arizona have either been for re-enlistments and a VIP tour.
Ford Island is really changing from the days you and I had offices there. New bridge and building lots of new housing. The new housing at all the bases is really nice.