Anyway, Jill and I made an attempt to go to Pearl Harbor when we were out in Hawaii. We got our tickets and everything, but since the wait was going to be too long (and it was Jill's last day in Hawaii), we decided to go see other sights. Plus, I was going to got back to Pearl Harbor as part of an official event later on in the week.
First, here are some of the Pearl Harbor pictures when Jill and I went. This is the USS Arizona Memorial. The reason we left, was that there was a 75 minute wait to see the video before you went on a boat to go out to the memorial (which took about 60 minutes round trip).
This is a picture of the U.S.S Missouri (a.k.a. "Mighty Mo"). This was the last battleship to be built by the U.S. and was the site of the surrender by Japan at the end of WWII (the signing took place under the white awning toward the middle of the ship...not the white tents toward the back of the ship).
This is a picture of the U.S.S. Bowfin submarine.
On Monday evening, we (colleagues and I) got a personal tour of Pearl Harbor by the Commander of the Pacific Fleet's boat crew. The Commander has a personal boat house for giving tours to certain groups and individuals. In the picture below, the wooden boat to the left has carried each President (except for two) since WWII on personal tours around Pearl Harbor. Unfortunately we didn't get to use that boat, but it was still pretty cool nonetheless.
After a quick tour of the boat house, we got to see the same short movie about Pearl Harbor that would've taken Jill and I 75 minutes just to get in to see. Then, we got a tour of the museum and headed out on a boat tour of Pearl Harbor. It was really neat to see some of the memorials and sights that you don't get to see in the public tour. Since Ford Island is still an active naval air station, the public tour goes out to the Arizona Memorial and back...we sailed around the island...and weren't allowed to take pictures at some points for obvious reasons.This is a picture of the sunken USS Utah on the other side of Ford Island from the USS Arizona.
We then sailed around the island and past the USS Missouri. In this first picture, you can just see a faint rainbow over the Arizona Memorial.
This is the USS Missouri again. Obviously, this is much closer because we sailed right by it.
Then, we made our way the USS Arizona Memorial. This was especially nice because the public tours were closed by this time of day, so we were the only ones at the memorial.
This is one of the gun turrets that is still visible. I believe it is one of the 16" gun turrets that you can see on the USS Missouri in the pictures above. 
This picture is looking back toward the USS Missouri.
Me in my Hawaiian shirt...which was business casual in Hawaii.
The list of Sailors and Marines who died on the Arizona.
This is the flag that flies over the USS Arizona. It is hung from the mast of the USS Arizona.
This was a final picture of the memorial, flag, gun turret, and block (in the background) that the Arizona was tied to on the day of the attack.
In all it was an incredible experience, and it was very humbling to see the list of men who gave their lives for our freedom.
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