ON THE MOVE: USS Missouri #AmReading

USS Missouri with

Arizona Memorial

While relaxing on my lanai and reading an action-filled novel, I came across a passage that stated the battleship Missouri is maintained by the Navy in Bremerton, Washington. My first reaction was, “No it’s not; the ship is docked on Ford Island at Pearl Harbor here in Hawaii.”

On Monday, June 22, 1998, the USS Missouri, nicknamed Mighty Mo, was ceremoniously towed around iconic Diamond Head at the east end of Waikiki. Following a 22-day voyage made with tugboats and a towing bridle attached to the celebrated, ocean-going tugboat Sea Voyage, thousands of us stood on the beach cheering as the decommissioned battleship rounded the extinct volcanic crater. A fireworks display welcomed the ship as it was escorted by local fishing vessels, pleasure boats, and helicopters, slowly making its way along the horizon toward Pearl Harbor’s Poka ‘Ailana (Ford Island), where it would ultimately welcome visitors to its majestic decks.

The battleship’s extensive history dates from the 1940s, and the ship’s quarterdeck witnessed the surrender of the Empire of Japan (which Japan announced on August 15, 1945) ending WWII.

USS Missouri Surrender Plaque on deck of ship

The novel I was reading while relaxing on my lanai was Clive Cussler's “Vixen 03” which had a copyright date of 1975. The USS Missouri was indeed maintained by the Navy in Washington on that date, long before the decommissioned battleship made its final journey across the Pacific to Hawaii. 

The USS Missouri Memorial on Ford Island at Pearl Harbor was officially opened to the public in January 1999 and continues to welcome visitors to its decks.

Beginning of USS Missouri Memorial tour

   

Visitor (me) on deck of battleship USS Missouri

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Villa Gracia and Battle of the Bulge

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The 26 eclectic-genre short stories for my #AtoZChallenge are excerpts from travelogue notes by

novel character Gahlen, who first appeared in SHARDS OF MEMORY – Oral History in a Heartbeat.

Each A-to-Z daily post is a complete, stand-alone tale.

Villa Gracia, located south of Namur in Wallonia

VILLA GRACIA and the BATTLE OF THE BULGE

(389 words)

My first morning on Belgian soil, I sat on the hotel veranda, enjoying the peaceful flow of the River Meuse. Rivers had played an important role in the lives of many ancestors and I took energy from the sight. Gisele, the hotel owner, slipped over with a small pot of coffee for me.

“My husband and I have often received offers to purchase this property,” she told me. “But we spent eighteen months lovingly remodeling the residence and do not plan to sell.”

I replied that the grounds of their beautiful hotel were very relaxing, but it was difficult for people to slow down and appreciate the calm. With that, Gisele took a moment to share with me a bit of history about the area and her life.

“It was a wintry December day in 1944,” she began, the words chilling, but her voice a soothing reminder of my grandparents’ tone as they shared stories with me. “German armies plunged into the semi-mountainous, heavily forested Ardennes region of eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. Their goal was to reach the sea, trap allied armies, and impel a negotiated peace on the Western front. The German Offensive achieved total surprise, but nowhere did the American troops give ground without a fight.

“For three days, the determined Americans took a stand. Then the arrival of powerful reinforcements ensured that the ambitious German goal was far beyond reach. In snow and sub-freezing temperatures, the Germans fell short of their objective of reaching the Meuse River on the fringe of the Ardennes. Their tactic created only a Bulge in the American line. They expended irreplaceable men, tanks, and material. Four weeks later, after grim fighting, with heavy losses on both side, the Bulge ceased to exist.”

Gisele halted her story for a moment, merely staring out the porch window. I took a sip of coffee to keep from breaking her silence. When she continued, it was to say something totally unexpected.

“During the fighting, a woman in the Ardennes gave birth to her baby. Unable to safely get the woman to a hospital, American soldiers aided in the delivery of baby Gisele.”

She stood then and returned to whatever had occupied her before she shared with me her personal story. Without a doubt, one of my grandparents had inherited storytelling abilities from Belgian ancestors.

 

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PEACE IN YOUR LIFETIME

Flag waving on the USS Bowfin submarine over the waters of Pearl Harbor with the Arizona Memorial and the USS Missouri in the left background

My first thoughts upon waking this morning were of war and peace, not Tolstoy's epic novel or the end of the Iraqi war, but of a war so many of us wage daily as we strive for peace of mind.

In 1998, I waited with many others who stood along the southern beaches of O’ahu, facing east Waikiki where an extinct volcano jutted into the Pacific Ocean. Slowly, the battleship Missouri drifted around the land mass of Diamond Head, on the last lap of its journey from California to its new permanent home near Pearl Harbor's Arizona Memorial. The ship represented the second bookend of World War II. The peace treaty that ended the war was signed by members of the Japanese and American military on the deck of the Missouri.

I planned to tour the Mighty Mo along with family visiting from the mainland in 2007, only to learn the ship was in dry dock for renovations. My chance finally arrived on December 7, 2011, the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor; a fitting day to see the USS Missouri and the USS Bowfin.
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Are wars inevitable, or is it just an inevitability that we accept wars? Either way, we can still obtain peace in our personal lives. By setting aside quiet time to reflect on the good the world has to offer, we can raise the bar from the low end, up...up...up, until a feeling of peace follows. Which bar? Why, the one that measures our mental state as it drifts between love and hate, happy and sad, courage and fear, or energy and inactivity.

Several weeks ago, an entertaining movie left me giddy with pleasure. Within minutes of exiting the theater, however, I encountered a situation that soured my mood. The rapid decrease of euphoria was disturbing until I realized my state of happiness is self-determined. It was my decision to slip from happy to sad.

Others may place obstacles in your path, but the final say in how you feel is yours. Will you love or hate, be happy or sad, become agitated or remain calm? Wars of the world may be beyond our control. But, ultimately, we maintain our own peace of mind.

Where will you set the bar to have peace in your lifetime?

U.S. ARMY NURSE CORPS

The United States Army Nurse Corps was established by law in 1901. With no draft for nurses, this law directed the U.S. Surgeon General to maintain a reserve list of nurses qualified to serve in times of national emergency.

In 1940, the U.S. Army had less than one thousand regular army nurses on active duty. With the threat of global war, nurses on the reserve list were called up to serve a one-year tour of duty. They worked in evacuation hospitals, in places such as Sicily, where they handled an average of 100 new casualties a day.

AND IF I PERISH by Evelyn M. Monahan and Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee portrays the work of frontline army nurses during World War II. This book influenced my choice of background for protagonist Pepper Bibeau in the novel For Every Action.

Unlike the frontline nurses of WWII, however, Pepper is portrayed as a former army nurse who had served during the Vietnam Conflict. Pepper’s experiences are an amalgam of all nurses who served in times of war, and are meant to honor the nurses who served in U.S. wars from World War II through Desert Storm and beyond.