Pearls of Remembrance: Honoring Pearl Harbor, Touring the Arizona, and How to Visit for Free (Seriously)
On December 7, 1941, service members and civilians lost their lives in a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
We remember the bravery of those who died and the lives forever changed that day — especially the sailors and Marines aboard the USS Arizona, many of whom remain entombed within her hull.
Their sacrifice deserves solemn respect every time we step onto that hallowed ground.
A very brief history, straight and true: on the morning of December 7, 1941, Japanese forces launched a surprise aerial assault on the U.S. Pacific Fleet anchored at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
The attack sank or damaged a swath of battleships, destroyers and support craft, destroyed hundreds of airplanes, and resulted in roughly 2,390 American casualties on that day — plunging the United States into World War II.
The battleship USS Arizona suffered the heaviest losses: 1,177 sailors and Marines perished when the ship blew apart and sank; more than 900 of them remain with the ship to this day, making the wreck both a war grave and a national shrine.
Visitors come not to gawk but to remember...
Good news for visitors and for preservation: the Pearl Harbor National Memorial and all its historic sites — including the USS Arizona Memorial, the USS Bowfin Submarine, the Battleship Missouri, and the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum — are open and fully operational as of November 1, 2025.
The reopening follows important preservation and safety work: the U.S. Navy, in coordination with the park, has completed a project to remove aging World War II–era mooring platforms from the Arizona that were stressing the memorial structure.
That removal — which relieved the ship of many tons of concrete and saved the memorial from potential structural damage — was completed this fall.
Why that preservation work mattered: decades-old salvage platforms attached to the wreck had become a literal weight on the ship and the memorial above it.
Navy diving and salvage teams removed large portions of those platforms — reporting the removal of well over 100 tons (reports cite figures around 150 tons) of WWII-era concrete — to relieve stress on the wreck and help ensure the long-term integrity of the site where so many remain laid to rest.
The operation was careful, coordinated with the National Park Service, and driven by respect for the memorial’s role as both a historic object and a grave.
Practical visitor info (so you can come pay respects and learn): the visitor center and the four historic sites are open daily from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day).
Regular Navy boat service to the USS Arizona Memorial has resumed and the typical program — including the short film and boat ride — runs throughout the day.
Advance reservations are strongly recommended and are handled through Recreation.gov; there is a $1 non-refundable management fee per ticket.
A limited number of free same-day standby tickets are also available at the visitor center on a first-come, first-served basis.
Importantly: there is no general entrance fee to the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center or the memorial grounds.
A few visitor practicalities to know before you go: bags, backpacks and camera bags are generally not permitted in the memorial or visitor center for security reasons — a bag storage facility near the entrance can hold items for a small fee.
On-site parking is available for $7 per day, payable via mobile app or kiosk.
Arrive early for the best chance at standby tickets (and to give yourself time for the park’s moving exhibits and the short documentary shown before boarding).
For the latest updates and possible weather or operational changes, check the National Park Service’s Pearl Harbor pages before you travel.
If you go: bring quiet, bring a respectful silence at the memorial itself, and bring a sense of history.
Visiting the Arizona and the Pearl Harbor sites is free because this place is meant to belong to the public — not to tourists alone.
It’s a site for teaching, mourning, and remembering the cost of war and the value of peace.
Whether you come from nearby Oʻahu or fly halfway around the world, please treat the place and its people with the reverence and respect they deserve.
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Sources summary (brief): National Park Service — Pearl Harbor National Memorial pages (visitor hours, USS Arizona program and reservation guidance). Recreation.gov ticketing and parking details (including the $1 management fee and parking fee). U.S. Navy press releases and regional Navy media on the removal of WWII-era mooring/salvage platforms from the USS Arizona and completion of preservation work. Local news and nonprofit park partners reporting on the removal (noting the large tonnage of removed concrete) and the resumption of regular boat service and reservations as of Nov. 1, 2025. (National Park Service)
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