Yesterday I visited the USS Arizona memorial that pays tribute to all those whom lost their lives in the attack on Pearl Harbor. It’s not surprising that this place reminded me of both the 9/11 memorial and the Polish concentration camps. Terror attacks are frightening and visiting places with that kind of history is really an incredible eye opener.

I am so lucky to not have been caught up in anything as of yet and I hope it never does happen but watching the footage really takes you back for a moment to feel like you were there and that’s emotional in itself.

Pearl Harbor has an option of visiting a few of the ship memorials however I only visited Arizona. There are around 2000 free tickets allocated daily to see this memorial. Along with the boat trip to the site of the wreckage and where the memorial is located, you also get to watch a 20 minute video about the attack. This video for me was an incredible insight into exactly what happened with real footage of the disaster. I learnt so much through this video alone and it made looking at the shipwreck that bit more terrifying. I’d highly recommend visiting the centre and going for one of the free tickets by arriving early or in low season.

I’m a very reflective person and often I will stand and look at something for a while going through in my head the stories and tales I have heard about the said place. I try imagine how it might have felt to bare witness to something that terrible and it does make me emotional but I think it’s important to visit these places to really get an understanding of the things that are happening around us in the world we live in.

Travelling the world has taught me more than any history or geography lesson at school ever did and I plan to continue to learn about more and more places as I get older.

One sad day but one experience I won’t forget.