Several events will be held on Oahu during Memorial Day weekend.
Mayor’s ceremony at Punchbowl
The public is invited to attend the Mayor’s Memorial Day Ceremony at 8:30 a.m. Monday at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. The ceremony will feature full military honors and music by the Royal Hawaiian Band.
Due to the significant numbers of visitors and vehicle traffic on Memorial Day weekend, the cemetery is closed to all PUC bus traffic from Friday through 8 a.m. Tuesday. For more information, visit the National Cemetery Administration website or contact Punchbowl staff at 808-532-3720. The ceremony will be broadcast live on KITV, KHON and Hawaii News Now.
Governor’s ceremony at veterans cemetery
Gov. David Ige will host the annual Memorial Day ceremony, whose theme is “Honoring Their Service and Sacrifice,” at the Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery in Kaneohe at 12:45 p.m. Monday. The ceremony will include music by the 111th Army Band of the Hawaii Army National Guard, a parade of flags and presentation of lei by veterans organizations, community leaders and international partners. Department of Veterans Affairs Undersecretary for Memorial Affairs Matthew Quinn will be the keynote speaker.
Civilian attendees are asked to wear aloha attire; military attendees are asked to dress in Class B or equivalent attire. Shuttle service to Memorial Plaza by National Guard vans will be available before and after the ceremony at the city bus stop and in parking lots starting at 11:30 a.m.
Memorial Day Remembrance at Schofield
The Army will hold a Memorial Day Remembrance Ceremony at the Post Cemetery at 11 a.m. Monday. Col. Dan Misigoy, commander, U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii, will be the speaker for the ceremony, which is open to the public. Representatives from the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Veterans and Gold Star Families will place wreaths to honor fallen service members. Prior to the ceremony, a group of soldiers, Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts will place small American flags at each headstone.
Visitors who do not possess a military ID should enter Schofield through Lyman Gate on Kunia Road, where they will be subject to an installation security background check. All vehicle occupants 16 years of age and older must present a valid state or government photo ID, and the vehicle driver must provide a current driver’s license, vehicle registration, proof of insurance and safety check. The cemetery is on Lyman Road, just west of Humphreys Road.
Ford Island Control Tower
The Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum opens the doors of the historic Ford Island Control Tower on Memorial Day after being closed for decades.
A new Top of the Tower Tour includes access to the historic Operations Building, the firehouse exhibit and an elevator ride to the upper cab of the 168- foot-tall control tower, which provides a 360-degree view of the Pearl Harbor aviation battlefield. Historic videos and pictures in the upper cab show the impact and aftermath of the attack, offering a new understanding of the “day which will live in infamy.”
For tickets and information, visit pearlharboraviation museum.org or call 808-441-1000. The museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Access to the museum is via free shuttles that run every 15 minutes from the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center at 1 Arizona Memorial Place.
USS Arizona Memorial Exhibit
To mark the 60th anniversary of the official opening of the USS Arizona Memorial, visitors are welcome to view a free temporary exhibit in the Pearl Harbor National Memorial Classroom at the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center. The exhibit, available starting Tuesday through July 15, features the life and works of memorial designer and architect Alfred Preis, who as a young child along with his Austrian family was interned at the Sand Island Detention Facility following the Dec. 7, 1941, attack and the United States’ subsequent entry into World War II. The exhibit is open 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Admission to the Pearl Harbor National Memorial is free, and reservations are not required to enter the Visitor Center or view the museums, temporary exhibit or park film. Reservations are recommended for the USS Arizona Memorial program and are required for the Ford Island bus tour to see the USS Utah and USS Oklahoma memorials.
Taps aboard Battleship Missouri Memorial
A National Moment of Remembrance will be observed at 3 p.m. Monday aboard the Battleship Missouri Memorial in Pearl Harbor as a part of the “Taps Across America Tribute.” The Moment of Remembrance is an annual event that asks Americans, wherever they are at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day, to pause for a minute to remember those who sacrificed their lives in military service to the United States. The commemoration will feature taps performed by the Pacific Fleet Band, which will be livestreamed on the Battleship Missouri Memorial’s Facebook page.
The Battleship Missouri Memorial is open daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. General admission is $34.99 for adults and $17.49 for children ages 4-12. Military, kamaaina and school group pricing are available. For information or reservations, call 808-455-1600 or visit USSMissouri.org.
21-gun salute at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam
Joint Base Pearl Harbor- Hickam will fire a 21-gun salute at noon Monday to mark Memorial Day. People on the installation and in the surrounding areas by the waterfront might hear gunfire from the 40-mm saluting battery on Ford Island.
Although used for a variety of occasions, including patriotic holidays and to honor the U.S. president and visiting heads of state, the 21-gun salute is fired on Memorial Day at one round per minute beginning at noon. During the salute, the U.S. flag is flown at half-mast in order to honor and remember those who died in active military service.
