Living in History:  My personal reflection of my time at Memorials


Whether you know it or not, some of the most historical sites in the world have now become memorials.  Each has a unique style and way of commemorating the past and linking it to the present.  I’ve been fortunate enough to visit some of these sites and am here to share one of my experiences.  So, hop on board, and let’s dive right into it!!

The main site I want to focus on today is my time at the Pearl Harbor Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii.  When I got to the Harbor I was amazed by its sheer size.  There were ships everywhere as it is still an active harbor today. You can see an overhead view of the port today below.


To get to the memorial we had to take a boat, and a guide explained the history of the event.  Knowing the context of where you are going and what happened is crucial, especially here, because it makes you feel a deeper connection to the site.  After hearing this and going to the site I felt a deeper sense of gratitude.  All these soldiers gave up their lives in the past to make sure we had a future of freedom.  On top of this, the silence inside the memorial added to the connection you felt. The silence honors the people who have passed away and makes it feel sacred and significant.  

The last element and most unique one that caught my eye on this trip was the fact that the real ship is right under the monument (picture is below so you can see).  Seeing this as I was coming in, I was just starstruck.  To put it in plain and simple terms the ship is huge. And when I mean huge, I mean HUGE.  It gave a direct connection to the result of the attack and transformed the events from something imaginary in my brain to something real.  It made the memorial feel even more sacred than before as you are walking in history.  Literally.



That’s all I got for you guys today!  Hope you all enjoyed learning about the elements that make this monument so special.  I’ll see you guys’ back next week, and until then peace.




Location: Troy, MI, USA

Comments

  1. RishiSeptember 8, 2024 at 10:48 AM

    I like how you captured the emotional depth and the powerful sense of history that surrounds the site, especially the moment of seeing the sunken ship beneath the memorial.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pratyush NeelakantanSeptember 8, 2024 at 12:35 PM

    I liked the personal touch that you put on the description of the memorial, as it felt like I myself was there in Hawaii.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2 Week Only Up Phase - Fortnite Edition

Image
Smashing my keyboard, about to break my monitor, I had just fallen down for the 50th time. This time from the skyscraper of floating buses, instead of the pool of giant purple cubes named Kevin. It was this cursed Fortnite creative map that basically ruled over my life like a videogame dictator. It decided when I slept, ate, and even when I dared to "touch grass." Every jump felt like a dopamine hit but every fall felt like personal attack to my soul. I would swear, "I'll quit after this try." I don't think I've ever openly lied to myself that much. One day I reached the top. VICTORY!! Then I fell. Game turned off. Never opened again.
Read more

Three Timelines, One Story: The Structure of Dunkirk

Image
       One of my favorite all-time films is Dunkirk by Christopher Nolan. Although the film seems nothing more than another war movie, the structure makes it feel like something completely new. I was immediately drawn in by how there were multiple elements used to tell the story being land, air, and finally sea. Each move at a different pace, and with the lack of dialogue during the movie, it was complicated to follow at first, but as the story continues, each element is used together to build up to the final climax.  To set up the rising action, we are first introduced to the land element, where thousands of soldiers are trapped at Dunkirk, hoping for an escape back to the UK. Nolan uses this perspective to make time feel slow and gurgling, showing close and intimate danger while also creating a sense of desperation. Then we move to the sea, where we see a group of civilians trying to sail from the UK to Dunkirk to hopefully save at least some soldiers. This jo...
Read more

Laughter, whats that?

Image
The other day, I caught myself scrolling through my camera roll, looking at old videos and pictures to simply pass the time. Out of nowhere, I stumbled across a video from my 8th-grade DC trip where my friends and I were exploring one of the museums. Suddenly, I burst into laughter. Not because anything shocking happened, as I've seen the video before, heck, I took the video, but because somehow my brain still doesn't expect things to go the way they do. That's when I realized almost everything that has made me laugh has the same main ingredient: the unexpected. The funniest moments in my life are never the planned ones, but they're the ones completely unhinged and off-script. It's the "this was NOT supposed to happen" moments that always get me. For example, the other day I was playing Fortnite. I was in a normal box fight, something I have done hundreds, if not thousands of times. I was in the perfect position, ready to blast my friend in our battle, but...
Read more