Come sail with me on a virtual cruise to Hawaii on Ruby Princess

[USCcruisecrazy]

On 11/30/2020 at 3:14 PM, ellie1145 said:

On to Rainbow Falls

 

🎵 Raindrops keep falling on my head...🎵

 

Thoroughly damp we get gratefully back in the van. Thank goodness Ricky had umbrellas for us all.  ☂️

 

I hope your feet are not too wet! 😉

 

 

 

He drives along the coast and past busy shopping streets, en route for our next stop, Rainbow Falls at the Wailuku River State Park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a great song..."Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head"...although not what you wanted to experience on your visit.  Piece of trivia (at least family trivia)...the song writer was BJ Thomas and he performed that song at one of my sister's weddings back in 1978...they were good friends!

[USCcruisecrazy]

Ellie,

 

Thanks for posting all the incredible pictures and the story about your F-I-L (I read about him in your Fiji adventure previously).  I just finished reading Killing the Rising Sun and The Day the World Went Nuclear.  They go very much in depth about the ebding of the war and the formal surrender on the Mighty Mo.  

 

I hope your DH is doing well as we all continue to move forward after a year of pain and dispare for so many.  Thanks again for sharing your adventures with the CC crowd...and for taking me places I've never been.  I hope one day to visit Pearl Harbor as well.  My father fought in WWII in Europe and in the Air Force in Korea, I served 20+ years in the Air Force, and my son is third generation Air Force now.  It is always appreciated when people show support for those that have fought and died to keep this world free from Tyranny!

[ellie1145]

On 1/26/2021 at 3:07 PM, USCcruisecrazy said:

No Crooners at all on Sky.  It was disappointing.  They had a Jazz Bar right next to the Casino, but it was pretty loud music and not quite as "Comfy" a feeling as Crooners.  Nothing like listening to a great piano player at Crooners while sipping a cocktail and reminiscing about the day!!

 

Oh what a picture you have drawn, listening to a great piano player and sipping a cocktail. We miss it SOO much! 

 

Let’s hope that one day we will be able to recapture those moments for real. 

[ellie1145]

On 1/26/2021 at 6:30 PM, ceilie1 said:

Ellie so glad to have you back and that your husband is doing so much better.

You have given us a little ray sun on some very gloomy days. 

Thank you. 

 

Thank you so much ceilie1. I am so pleased I have been able to lighten your days. 

 

After our visit to Pearl Harbour we will have the opportunity to relax and enjoy something a little more relaxing and fun..........

[ellie1145]

On 1/26/2021 at 6:31 PM, USCcruisecrazy said:

What a great song..."Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head"...although not what you wanted to experience on your visit.  Piece of trivia (at least family trivia)...the song writer was BJ Thomas and he performed that song at one of my sister's weddings back in 1978...they were good friends!

 

Well, the Jamaicans call it ‘liquid gold’ and although it would not be our first choice to see Hawaii in the rain, it certainly didn’t affect our enjoyment of a wonderful day.

 

On our second ‘date’ so many years ago (in the last century no less! 🤣) DH and I went to see ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,’ with this iconic song. I can still see a very young Katharine Ross on the bicycle with this song playing. Oh those were the days! 

 

How amazing that your sister had that song performed at her wedding by the writer. Lucky girl. ☔

[ellie1145]

On 1/26/2021 at 8:27 PM, USCcruisecrazy said:

Ellie,

 

Thanks for posting all the incredible pictures and the story about your F-I-L (I read about him in your Fiji adventure previously).  I just finished reading Killing the Rising Sun and The Day the World Went Nuclear.  They go very much in depth about the ebding of the war and the formal surrender on the Mighty Mo.  

 

I hope your DH is doing well as we all continue to move forward after a year of pain and dispare for so many.  Thanks again for sharing your adventures with the CC crowd...and for taking me places I've never been.  I hope one day to visit Pearl Harbor as well.  My father fought in WWII in Europe and in the Air Force in Korea, I served 20+ years in the Air Force, and my son is third generation Air Force now.  It is always appreciated when people show support for those that have fought and died to keep this world free from Tyranny!

 

Thank you so much USCcruisecrazy. I’m glad to hear that you are enjoying my story and that of my F-I-L. That book sounds very interesting. I must try and get hold of it. 

 

DH is making progress. More good days than bad now thank goodness. 

 

I do hope that you will eventually get to see Pearl Harbour for yourself. It is an awesome place. However, I would suggest that you ‘go it alone’ as we paid a lot for the tour and it was a constant worry about being late and rushing from one place to another. As the ship is normally there for an extended stay I would certainly go independently, so that we could spend as much time as we liked here. 

 

Wow, your family has certainly played its part in protecting the world from tyranny. We owe you, and many others, a huge debt of gratitude, and I wish your son well. You must be very proud of him. My F-I-L certainly always had nothing but praise for the USA, for helping to end the war, and ensure his survival well into his nineties. 

 

Sadly, it appears that events in the USA are showing that tyranny (and tyrants) can be home grown, and that is even more difficult to eradicate. 

 

 

[ellie1145]

       A story of humanity, equality and honour

 

kamikaze: a Japanese pilot trained in World War 11 to make a suicidal crash attack especially upon a ship.

 

We leave the site of the Surrender of the Japanese Empire, and walk towards the rear of the ship.

 

It is here that our young guide brings to life an amazing and truly inspiring story of humanity, which took place right here on the deck of the USS Missouri.

 

On the afternoon of April 11th, 1945, while the last battles of World War 11 were being fought at sea and on land, a young Japanese pilot was flying his plane on his last mission ever. Like other kamikaze pilots he was making the ultimate sacrifice for the glory of the Japanese Empire. His target, the USS Missouri.

 

Whilst Japan had lost much of its navy and the possibility of defeat was fast approaching, a desperate attempt was made to cripple the allied navies. A Special Attack Unit, better known as Kamikaze, or Divine Wind, was formed, with the express intention of causing as much destruction as possible to the allied fleets.

 

As many as 3,862 pilots were used as suicide bombers, ordered to plough into a ship, whilst their planes were packed with explosives. According to the US Air Force, up to 368 ships were damaged and 34 were sunk. Although only 14-19% of such attacks were successful, more than 7,000 allied naval personnel lost their lives or were wounded - some say nearer to 10,000.

 

One wonders what that young Japanese pilot was thinking as he flew alongside the Mighty Mo, before crashing into the side of the ship. The idea of death instead of defeat or capture was deeply entrenched in Japanese military culture. Indeed, it has been said that the reason the allied prisoners of war were so brutally treated was because the Japanese could not comprehend how they could have surrendered. They had no respect for those who did so, and treated them accordingly.

 

So what made these young men, often little more than boys, decide to make the ultimate sacrifice? Propaganda would have us believe that these young men eagerly volunteered to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. But it was the last desperate effort of Japanese military command, who believed that they could turn the tide of the war using these suicide pilots. They had lost so many pilots that they simply could not train enough to replace them. In one day in June 1942 they lost more airmen than they managed to train in a whole year. They just couldn’t keep up with demand. But to the Japanese, defeat was not an option, death was preferred.

 

However, it is clear from such people as Saburo Sakai, a Japanese flying ace, that not only did these young men have little choice, as they feared that a refusal would result in retaliation against their families back home, but they were also brutally treated during their training.

 

One of the tactics used to get them to volunteer was to put them in a room with their peers and ask that anyone who didn’t wish to become a kamikaze should step forward. Few would be brave enough to do so, for fear of appearing cowardly, with its accompanying shame. Anyone who was foolish (or courageous) enough to step forward was ostracised and sent to the battle front where death was guaranteed. Or they might still find themselves on the list of volunteers.

 

 

The pilot, Setsuo Ishino, took off with 15 other pilots from their base at Kanye, in a plane filled with 500lbs of explosives. Before taking off he would have taken part in a ceremony, sharing ceremonial cups of sake. He was probably wearing the senninbari, a ‘belt of a thousand stitches’ given to him by his mother. He would have carried prayers from his families and he might have composed and read a death poem.

 

 

 

[ellie1145]

Our guide continues her extraordinary story. There are photographs which illustrate the events of that day.

 

 

The USS Missouri, was northeast of Okinawa, when his plane was spotted on radar, 7,500 yards out.  In an extraordinary stroke of luck, the cook, Len Schmidt, was standing close to the photographer, and he managed to capture the suicide plane just moments before the impact.

 

 

The massive anti-aircraft guns were fired and hit their target, but the pilot, despite being mortally wounded, regained altitude and rammed into the side of the Mighty Mo. Thankfully, his bomb had fallen out of the plane moments before it hit, but debris was scattered across the deck, and fire erupted.

 

Our guide shows us the precise location, and we lean over to see the minor damage, which still remains to this day.

 

 

Thankfully, there were no serious injuries, but the pilot was killed instantly. His remains were later found by the crew among the wreckage.

 

Fragments of the pilot’s plane, and a button from his uniform.

[ellie1145]

 

           ‘We commit his body to the deep.’

 

 

As the deckhands prepared to toss the Japanese pilot overboard an extraordinary thing happened.

 

Captain William M. Callaghan, the commanding officer of the USS Missouri, ordered his men to stop. In an amazing gesture of humanity, he gave the command that this enemy pilot should receive a proper burial, with full military honours, something which was almost unheard of. Indeed, there was dissent amongst the exhausted crew, some of whom were feeling anger against the Japanese for their assault on Pearl Harbour, the Bataan Death March and other atrocities.

 

However, Captain Callaghan stayed resolute in his decision. Although his own brother had been killed in battle, he still made the difficult decision to respect an enemy pilot.

 

Overnight, some of the crew managed to hastily piece together a Japanese flag with which to drape the canvas shroud, and on the following morning, April 12th, 1945, at 9.00 am, the crew gathered together on deck ready for the burial at sea.

 

 

Setsuo Ishino’s body was brought from the sickbay and, carried by 6 pall bearers he was taken towards the rail near to the point of impact of his plane. All those present stood to attention and saluted as the Marine rifle detail fired a three-volley salute into the sky. One of the ship’s bandsmen played ‘Taps’ on his bugle before the Senior Chaplain, Commander Roland Faulk, said the following words:

 

“We commit his body to the deep.”

 

The body of the pilot was then lifted over the side and slid into his final resting place, deep in the Pacific Ocean, and thus this young kamikaze pilot was given full military honours.

 

 

It is a story of the greatest humanity and honour, as well as compassion. Despite the recent loss of 20 American ships during the Battle of Okinawa, this captain showed what is best in mankind, respect and valour. It was also a gesture of hope that, despite the depravity of war, there was still respect for those who, although still the enemy, were willing to do their duty and give their lives, just as those young sailors onboard USS Missouri would have done if called to do so.

 

But the story does not end there. Our guide tells us that the family of this young man were eventually found and contacted, and they sent photographs of him in his uniform during his training. Those photographs are displayed for all to see onboard the Mighty Mo. Ishino’s family must have been grateful to know that their son received such respect and honour from an enemy, even in the midst of war.

 

Captain Callaghan himself stated that his decision was:

 

“A tribute to a fellow warrior who had displayed courage and devotion, and who paid the ultimate sacrifice with his life, fighting for his country.”

 

This story is very moving, and restores our faith in humanity. We spend a little time looking at the photos before our guide bids us goodbye and informs us that we may now explore the living quarters on our own.

 

We thank her profusely, as she takes her leave of us, and we are most grateful to have met this young lady who has so vividly brought events to life on the Mighty Mo.

 

 

 

Edited January 28, 2021 by ellie1145

[USCcruisecrazy]

I absolutely love that story...and as a military man by trade, I have always respected those that fought for their country and were willing to give their life.  It's not a matter of which side is the "right" side but the ideal that there is something greater than oneself that is worth dying for!  I salute that young man!!

[trbarton]

22 hours ago, ellie1145 said:

 

           ‘We commit his body to the deep.’

 

 

As the deckhands prepared to toss the Japanese pilot overboard an extraordinary thing happened.

 

Captain William M. Callaghan, the commanding officer of the USS Missouri, ordered his men to stop. In an amazing gesture of humanity, he gave the command that this enemy pilot should receive a proper burial, with full military honours, something which was almost unheard of. Indeed, there was dissent amongst the exhausted crew, some of whom were feeling anger against the Japanese for their assault on Pearl Harbour, the Bataan Death March and other atrocities.

 

However, Captain Callaghan stayed resolute in his decision. Although his own brother had been killed in battle, he still made the difficult decision to respect an enemy pilot.

 

Overnight, some of the crew managed to hastily piece together a Japanese flag with which to drape the canvas shroud, and on the following morning, April 12th, 1945, at 9.00 am, the crew gathered together on deck ready for the burial at sea.

 

 

Setsuo Ishino’s body was brought from the sickbay and, carried by 6 pall bearers he was taken towards the rail near to the point of impact of his plane. All those present stood to attention and saluted as the Marine rifle detail fired a three-volley salute into the sky. One of the ship’s bandsmen played ‘Taps’ on his bugle before the Senior Chaplain, Commander Roland Faulk, said the following words:

 

“We commit his body to the deep.”

 

The body of the pilot was then lifted over the side and slid into his final resting place, deep in the Pacific Ocean, and thus this young kamikaze pilot was given full military honours.

 

 

It is a story of the greatest humanity and honour, as well as compassion. Despite the recent loss of 20 American ships during the Battle of Okinawa, this captain showed what is best in mankind, respect and valour. It was also a gesture of hope that, despite the depravity of war, there was still respect for those who, although still the enemy, were willing to do their duty and give their lives, just as those young sailors onboard USS Missouri would have done if called to do so.

 

But the story does not end there. Our guide tells us that the family of this young man were eventually found and contacted, and they sent photographs of him in his uniform during his training. Those photographs are displayed for all to see onboard the Mighty Mo. Ishino’s family must have been grateful to know that their son received such respect and honour from an enemy, even in the midst of war.

 

Captain Callaghan himself stated that his decision was:

 

“A tribute to a fellow warrior who had displayed courage and devotion, and who paid the ultimate sacrifice with his life, fighting for his country.”

 

This story is very moving, and restores our faith in humanity. We spend a little time looking at the photos before our guide bids us goodbye and informs us that we may now explore the living quarters on our own.

 

We thank her profusely, as she takes her leave of us, and we are most grateful to have met this young lady who has so vividly brought events to life on the Mighty Mo.

 

 

 

You have explained things in such details that a lot of us did not know. As a navy veteran it’s very moving hearing all of these details. 
 

I served on the USS Coral Sea, CVA 43 during the Vietnam war. 
 

Thank you very much. 
 

Tom😀

[ellie1145]

4 hours ago, USCcruisecrazy said:

I absolutely love that story...and as a military man by trade, I have always respected those that fought for their country and were willing to give their life.  It's not a matter of which side is the "right" side but the ideal that there is something greater than oneself that is worth dying for!  I salute that young man!!

 

Thank you, USCcruisecrazy. It is an extraordinary story and one which greatly moved us. 

 

You are so right in what you say. The one thing that keeps us civilised is our respect for one another, and that captain certainly showed great courage in sticking to his principles. Whilst that young man was the enemy, he was also fighting for his country, and although it may be difficult for us to comprehend the manner in which he did that, his courage has to be respected. 

 

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, and thank you for playing your part in the military. One of the things we used to love when in the USA was the respect shown to the military. Indeed, we were amazed and heartened the first time we visited Seaworld in Florida and saw how military, both past and present, were honoured. 

 

 

[ellie1145]

57 minutes ago, trbarton said:

You have explained things in such details that a lot of us did not know. As a navy veteran it’s very moving hearing all of these details. 
 

I served on the USS Coral Sea, CVA 43 during the Vietnam war. 
 

Thank you very much. 
 

Tom😀

 

Thank you Tom. I am sometimes a little nervous that I may be too ‘wordy,’ but I’m glad you enjoyed it,

 

Thank you also for your service to your country. Our country was not involved in the Vietnam War, but we watched its progress with great interest and know that many Americans experienced great brutality at the hands of the Vietcong. 

 

 

[AF-1]

ellie1145;   you are not wordy;  you have enough in your descriptions to tell a story;  and you are a great story teller

[Reader0108598]

16 hours ago, ellie1145 said:

 

Thank you Tom. I am sometimes a little nervous that I may be too ‘wordy,’ but I’m glad you enjoyed it,

 

Thank you also for your service to your country. Our country was not involved in the Vietnam War, but we watched its progress with great interest and know that many Americans experienced great brutality at the hands of the Vietcong. 

 

 

You are never too wordy enjoy all your posts!

 

[Reader0108598]

I thank anyone who served our country ! My son was Airforce for 8 years now a Veteran and a State trooper I thought I cried a lot when he was overseas more scared to have him home now! Please Thank a police officer when possible! My son would not hurt a fly unless it hurt him first!

 

Edited January 30, 2021 by Reader0108598

[CruzinNoony]

Thank you, Ellie, for that story of the Japanese pilot.  You certainly brought it to life.  Hopefully, we can tour the Mighty Mo on our next trip there.

[margord]

This is the second of your reviews that I hav read and enjoyed each and ever one of them.  I look forward to what is next.

 

Marilee

[ellie1145]

On 1/29/2021 at 11:08 PM, AF-1 said:

ellie1145;   you are not wordy;  you have enough in your descriptions to tell a story;  and you are a great story teller

Thank you so much AF-1. I appreciate your comments. 

 

Hope you enjoy the rest of the adventure with a few stories along the way. 🙂

[ellie1145]

On 1/30/2021 at 2:07 PM, Reader0108598 said:

You are never too wordy enjoy all your posts!

 

 

Thank you Tom, much appreciated! 🙂

[ellie1145]

On 1/30/2021 at 2:14 PM, Reader0108598 said:

I thank anyone who served our country ! My son was Airforce for 8 years now a Veteran and a State trooper I thought I cried a lot when he was overseas more scared to have him home now! Please Thank a police officer when possible! My son would not hurt a fly unless it hurt him first!

 

 

I absolutely agree with you and you must be very proud of your son. 👍

[ellie1145]

On 1/31/2021 at 12:46 AM, CruzinNoony said:

Thank you, Ellie, for that story of the Japanese pilot.  You certainly brought it to life.  Hopefully, we can tour the Mighty Mo on our next trip there.

 

Thank you for reading it CruzinNoony. Glad I was able to bring this extraordinary story to life for you and others. 

 

Fingers crossed you will be able to explore the Mighty Mo too. 🙂

[ellie1145]

On 2/2/2021 at 3:03 PM, margord said:

This is the second of your reviews that I hav read and enjoyed each and ever one of them.  I look forward to what is next.

 

Marilee

Thank you Marilee. So glad you are enjoying this adventure. Lots more to come! 🙂

[ellie1145]

A little update....

 

Well, here I am at last. Thank you so much for your patience. I did wonder if you might all jump ship and go to the Carnival board instead......(heavens to Murgatroyd! ) 

 

DH is nearly fully recovered after 5 different antibiotics. 

 

We are both being vaccinated on Tuesday (Hooray!) 😷

 

Daughter is now approximately 5 weeks away from delivery, and baby is breech now, so we have everything crossed that he finally decides which way is up and finds the way out, as if not it will be Caesarean section. 👶

 

We are still in lockdown (of a sorts, there seem to be normal levels of traffic on the roads, strangely) but the vaccination programme has been awesome. Glad we are not still tied to the vagaries of the EU who still can’t get their act together, and are now saying the Astra Zeneca/Oxford vaccine is not safe for the over 50s. For goodness sake! But they are so behind that even more people in Europe will die before they sort themselves out. 

 

We hope that all of you in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Scotland (hi Winifred, hope you are keeping well!), plus the rest of the UK, and wherever you are, are keeping safe and well. 

 

Azbirdmom, how are you doing? Did they ever tell you if you received the real vaccine or the placebo?  So frustrating the way Europe is punishing us by bringing up all sorts of reasons not to use it. We are ready and waiting for our jabs.

 

So off we go on the tour of the Mighty Mo. And I promise you that tonight I will take you all off on another adventure, which will be relaxing and fun! So get your grass skirts and Hawaiian shirts on please! 😉 

 

 

[ellie1145]

We tour the Mighty Mo

 

 

We leave our guide behind as she goes off to take her next tour group, and we enter the ship itself. We are amazed that we are able to wander at will.

 

Now you may remember that I mentioned that some confusion took place over our meeting time at the end of our visit. More of that later, but suffice to say we had to rush our tour as we thought we had less time than we actually had.

 

The USS Missouri had a long and distinguished career, which had only just started when the Japanese Surrender took place. She went on to fight in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. Although she was ‘mothballed’ in 1955, she was modernised and reactivated in 1984. By 1987 she was providing a safe escort to Kuwait owned oil tankers through the Gulf of Oman, during the Iran/Iraq war. She was part of the largest naval convoy since World War 11.

 

Following this, the Missouri returned to the Persian Gulf to provide fire support during Operation Desert Storm, in January and February of 1991. Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait in August 1990, and on her arrival, the USS Missouri fired her 16 inch guns for the first time since the Korean War. She also launched some of the first Tomahawk missiles. These awesome long range, jet powered subsonic cruise missiles were highly effective, and were used to great effect during this time.

 

She received 11 battle stars for her service in World War 11, the Korean War and in the Persian Gulf.

 

After 17 years of active service she was decommissioned in 1992, and then, in 1998, she found her final resting place as a museum ship at Pearl Harbour. A fitting end for a ship which played such a famous part in the final ending of World War 11.

 

We wander into what is obviously the Officer’s Mess, where the table is laid with crisp white linen, shiny cutlery and glassware. It looks a comfortable area where officers could relax and socialise.

 

 

There are brightly lit glass fronted cabinets, where various artefacts and memorabilia are displayed.

 

From here we move onto a huge area which is the mess for other ranks. There are Formica tables and chairs, all secured to the floor, and along one wall there is a vast array of serveries where the crew would have picked up their meals.

 

 

A little conundrum for you,  Tom. Which of the above two photos was taken on an iphone?

 

 

 

Or these two?

 

 

There is also the ‘Big Mo Snack Shop’ where we imagine crew could purchase their favourite snacks and sodas - I guess Coca Cola would be high on the list.

 

 

 

During WW11, General Dwight D. Eisenhower requested that Coca Cola provide American GIs with this refreshingly cool drink, wherever they were. The founder of Coca Cola, Robert Webster, wanted to see that ‘every man in uniform gets a bottle of Coca Cola for five cents, wherever he is and whatever it costs the company.’

 

 

Edited February 5, 2021 by ellie1145