Thanks to Asher’s interest in World War II we started our Sabbatical in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Asher Ballonoff 3/18/22

Today we went to the USS Bowfin submarine museum in Pearl Harbor. There was an audio tour for the submarine and the museum. I loved the submarine torpedo room they did not change much of the actual features. After that I went in the ocean water for 4 hours! I was mostly just swimming by the beach and getting pummeled by the strong and big crests. I saw two sea urchins and lots of fish. My sister saw two turtles! One of the waves that was coming was made so powerful from close together waves that got pushed into it where the beach slanted down. Which is 10 feet out in the water then it sprung forward and knocked me off my feet.

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3/18/22 Cris

First day in Honolulu- after smooth traveling yesterday from Denver despite 6 inches of snow there and a small kerfuffle getting a rental car. It was going to take 3 hours to get a car so we cancelled and took a taxi instead.

Asher started a nice journal today- thanks to his interest in WW2 we started our education sabbatical today with a reserved trip to the Pearl Harbor submarine museum.

Mom sent this email with Grandpa Harold’s obituary too-

Harold Clarence Martin

January 20, 1923 – December 8, 2013

Served in the U.S. Navy, April 1943 – September 2, 1945, during World War II Photo: Company 285, Regiment 5, Battalion 20, dated June 15, 1943 Second row, left – right, Harold is the 10th person

(Harold was on board the USS Missouri for the signing of the Peace Treaty with Japan on September 2, 1945)

In April of 1943, Harold Clarence Martin joined the U.S. Navy and was sent to Farragut, Idaho, for boot camp. He was then sent to Bremerton Naval Base and stationed on a light cruiser, the USS Detroit. While the ship was in harbor, Harold was assigned to be a chauffeur for the admiral. In August 1943, they took part in the bombardments of Kiska Island, part of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. They remained in Alaskan waters until June 1944 when they saw action in the Kurile Islands that stretch between Japan and Russia. The USS Detroit returned to Bremerton for repairs, then patrolled the West Coast of South America until December 1944.

The USS Detroit crew was stationed at the U.S. Naval Base at Ulithi from February 1945 until the end of the war. For a time, Ulithi was the largest naval facility in the world. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it was 1,300 miles south of Tokyo and 850 miles east of the Philippines. When they entered Tokyo Bay on September 1, 1945, the crew was invited to board the USS Missouri for the signing of the Peace Treaty with Japan on September 2, 1945.

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Cris Journal-

3/20/2022 Sunday

Another amazing day in Honolulu. Yesterday we took a day off from Pearl Harbor to swim and rest. We enjoyed morning work outs at the gym (Linden even did her Gerry gymnastics workout), “fancy” breakfast on the Veranda of our hotel (Moana Surfrider) $$$$, and then we all swam in the ocean again. Waikiki beach is a very easy beach to play and surf at. There are gentle waves and a couple of sand bars that extend way out into the water. The majority of surfers are out at this second sand bar- over 200 yards out where you can stand most of the time. Aside from some rocky sections it is very safe and forgiving. After some quiet time in the afternoon with screens, kindles and limited writing (I’m trying I promise!!) we had energy for another excursion! We hailed a taxi and took a 10 min drive to the Diamond Head Park for a 2 mile hike to the top! As I write from the 18th floor today I can see the ocean AND the peak of the crater from our climb. That mountain is the backdrop of all Waikiki beach pictures! It was also so fitting for our “pearl harbor education” trip as the top of the crater had been converted into a bunker during the war as an amazing lookout! It was amazing to be in the bunker and look out on the Pacific Ocean and climb down the internal mountain spiral staircase. We also saw some wildlife! Asher spotted a miniature or baby lizard on the way up and I spotted a mongoose (aka FUNKLEDINK by Ari Edenborough) and lots of PURTY birds! The red headed Brazilian Cardinal was our fave. After the hike the Pineapple Whip was a Ballonoff favorite then an Uber back to the hotel. We ordered in Pizza to avoid the Saturday night chaos on the Honolulu “strip” and watched Lupin on Netflex together. Adults fell asleep during it, Kids- not sure.

So now to today- can’t write now, Ari is hungry and we have SUSHI res! But our 2nd day of the Pearl Harbor museums was special. We not only seized tickets for the 8 am boat ride to the USS Arizona but also toured Grandma Harold’s Mighty Mo (USS Missouri Battleship)…..

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Ari Journal Day #6/7

March 22/23 2022

Not many times in my life will I be writing simultaneously in 2 days. As I write, we will be passing the international date line, making it 1 day later. Maybe I’ll cross it again sometime, maybe not.

We spent the last 4 days in Honolulu exploring Pearl Harbor, at Asher’s request. Just 5 days into our adventure, I have already developed an appreciation for travel and the unexpected lessons to be learned. I have realized how little I really understood about global politics and specifically World War II. Experiencing the 4 museums at Pearl harbor brought me back to the way the world was at that time. There are very obvious parallels between what led up to that war and what is currently happening in our world with the Ukraine/Russian war. I still feel I know embarrassingly little about historical and current politics, and I’m in good company. Likely most of our world is similarly ignorant to the tendencies of humanity, and if we don’t understand the events that led to such tragedies in the past, we will have no hope in avoiding them in the future. I know it sounds cliché, but it has to be true. Something about humans causes us to desire to oppress and control others (Putin/Hitler/Mussolini), resulting in the initial denial of what is happening (isolationist tendencies of the US/other countries in 1930’s, hesitating to join the war—which is occurring again), and then the inevitability of a global conflict. I hope to god this does not happen once again, yet the parallels are striking.

Of course the world is different now than it was 80 years ago. Russia has 6000 nuclear warheads which could wipe out a good portion of life on earth, making other countries a bit more nervous about a full-fledged war. At first glance, I agree with NATO’s position of not joining the conflict with the hope that the war will end in Ukraine. But, are we deluding ourselves? Why would this time be any different than previous times? Maybe Putin is just as afraid of a nuclear war as we are? Hopefully? But people such as he likely want to see the world burn. Sounds like even Hitler was unwilling to use chemical weapons towards the end of the war, maybe we will be just as lucky.

OK, enough of the deep thoughts on global strife, and on to our adventures. On 3/18, we went to the submarine exhibit, aboard the USS Bowfin. Seeing the insides of a submarine was shocking to me, seeing how 80 men could squeeze into a tiny metal box. The torpedoes (I think ~10000 pounds apiece) were incredible to see. The thing that was most disturbing was seeing the manned torpedo used by the Japanese requiring the pilot to sacrifice himself while he steered the torpedo into a ship. Over 100 Japanese men died manning these torpedoes. What a tragedy.

On 3/19, we took a day off from Pearl Harbor and stayed at Waikiki, swimming at the beach and then heading to Diamondhead park, something I had no idea was there. It is a 2 mile out and back hike about 15 minutes from Waikiki along a trail made in the early 1900’s by the military through Diamondhead crater leading to the top where a bunker/outlook looks over the Pacific. This trail was literally cut out of the mountain, switchbacking up the volcanic rock, going through a 200 foot tunnel, and then going to the bunker which was 5 stories tall etched into the mountain. The view from the top is stunning, you can see Honolulu and the vast Pacific. You then descend a spiral staircase in the center of the mountain down 5 flights. It’s quite an experience. At the end, we had the best pineapple whip, served in ½ a pineapple, watching the invasive mongooses and gorgeous birds hopping around. Ironically, this hike/experience ended up being one of our favorite parts of Honolulu, including Asher’s!

3/20 was a Pearl Harbor extravaganza! With her nimble fingers, Cris was able to get us reservations for the USS Arizona boat ride at 8:00 am (we had to get the reservations online at 3:00 pm sharp the day prior). We went to Pearl Harbor early to catch the boat. The museum is a 10 minute boat ride to Ford Island where the USS Arizona is underwater and the museum is above it. Over 1100 men are entombed there, so it is quite a solemn place. About 2 quarts of oil continue to be emitted from the Arizona into the water. You can see the oil slick in the water and drops of oil coming to the surface. The gun turrets and some other parts of the ship are sticking out of the water and you can see where the metal was sheared off from the fight. Perhaps my favorite part was going back to the main area and going through the museum recapping the events leading up to Pearl Harbor and the entrance of the US and UK into WWII. So important to understand this so we can maybe avoid the same situation now. We then continued to the USS Missouri, the battleship where the peace treaty between the US and Japan was signed on 9/2/1945, officially ending WWII. Seeing the sheer magnitude of this ship was sobering—each gun weighs ~250,000 pounds, each round shot from the gun weighing 2,700 pounds. About 2400 men manned the ship, making it a mobile city. It was quite impressive to see that the ship was used in the 1950’s in the Korean war and then in 1991 in Desert Storm.

3/21 was the finale: surfing/swimming in the morning, COVID test at lunch time, then the Aviation Museum in the afternoon. Surfing at Waikiki was an otherworldly experience. The Ballonoffs are used to deserted beaches/waves with plenty of room to roam. Waikiki has about ~3000 people in the water at any given time and SO many surfers!!! Linden kicked some serious ass, catching all kinds of waves. The waves were gentle, the traffic was harder. I caught fewer waves, and Cris and Asher hung out on the boards. My ignorant surfing etiquette landed me a surfboard in my ribs which still hurt, but overall we are all intact. The aviation museum was a complete history of US military aviation, all the way from the first planes to the F16’s of today. The hangar has bullet holes from the 1941 attack. Very powerful.

And now that brings us to 3/22/2022. The day we truly take the leap on our journey. I have been a nervous wreck about this trip and the associated unknowns. The next 5 countries we are visiting will be countries that none of us have visited in places unknown to us. Doing this during the COVID pandemic, perceived global destabilization, and with our family makes Cris and I a bit nervous. However, this is exactly why we need to do this. We all become stiff with inflexibility if we do not spread our wings once in a while. I never have considered myself a fearful person, yet the past 2 years have crept up on me and filled me with trepidations about the unknown, to a point that I have had a hard time going anywhere other than Chenango and Elk Run. This is a problem.

I hope we look back on this trip with fondness and feel we experienced a true adventure which opened our eyes to the wonderous world around us. We will see. We all do our best in life, making the decisions we feel are the best for ourselves and those around us. Here’s to an adventure with just a little bit of luck….

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The boat ride over to the USS Arizona memorial started with quite an announcement! A strict and regimented Navy officer in full uniform yelled an announcement regarding the rules for the boat ride as well as a humble, serious reminder of where we were about to visit. It was a sacred grave. Around 1000 men died and lay submerged in this ship we were about to visit back on Dec 7th, 1941. That day changed history forever and today was our time to honor and respect this horror. That day committed the USA to the war. The memorial was built over the sunken US Arizona and all the men that died that day were still on board as well. A couple of pints of gas STILL bellows out of the ship daily- some symbolically see this as the tears of the soldiers. I was leaning over the memorial looking into the water when I saw a fairly large bolus of oil rise to the surface and spread out on the surface in a rainbow of colors. It made me tear up thinking of the tragedy and the waste of war. It was an emotional moment for me also thinking about Grandpa Harold too. The timing of our visit is quite haunting since it is coinciding with the Ukrainian Invasion from Russia (started just one month ago around 2/20/22 when we were in Patagonia). So many of us fear that history could be repeating itself with the similarities. The Japanese decided to attack based on sanctions and desperation- “If the US doesn’t ease up on these sanctions against Japan, the military men in my country are going to be driven to do something desperate”- Japanese Ambassador 11/1941. I hope that we can continue to be diplomatic with Putin- to hold him accountable and discourage the invasion of Ukraine. We also have to make sure he is not pigeonholed into doing something “desperate” and stupid- like nuclear war or world war.

After the USS Arizona we headed to the Virtual Reality station for a short VR experience of Dec 7th. We were able to swivel around in our chairs and have a full 3D experience of the Pearl Harbor air raid by the Japanese. We saw fighter pilots attack and bombs fall on battleship row with explosions and fire and chaos.

The shuttle ride over to the USS Missouri was next! This was extra special for our family. Grandpa Harold was on board this ship when the Japanese PEACE TREATY was signed in Tokyo Bay! It was not his ship- I think he was stationed on the USS Detroit but his group was invited on board for the signing! The Mighty Mo was awesome! We toured the deck- with beautiful teak decks and the actual sight of the signing of peace as well as the lower levels with a full-on small town for over 3000 people! It even had a donut shop which the kids really liked! It was a highlight for us all.