Hawaii
All Hands on Deck: Maintaining the USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor
Program No. 2617RJ
Leave your mark on history while maintaining the USS Missouri and enjoying time in Pearl Harbor. Also, experience privileged access to the ship on a unique overnight!
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8 days
7 nights
11 meals
6B 0L 5D
1
Check-in, Registration, Orientation, Welcome Dinner
Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii
2
Mighty Mo Introduction & Orientation, Service Work
Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii
3
Service Work
Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii
4
Punchbowl Memorial, Service Work, Overnight on Mighty Mo
Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii
5
Pearl Harbor Field Trip, Service Work
Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii
6
Free Time
Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii
7
Pearl Harbor Remembrance Ceremony, Conclusion of Service
Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii
8
Program Concludes
Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii
At a Glance
Walk the decks of the USS Missouri and recall its storied history as the site of Japanese surrender in World War II, a veteran of four wars and the last battleship to be active in any navy in the world. At one time, hundreds of sailors kept this powerful dreadnought fit and ready for duty. Now you will become a part of the “Mighty Mo’s” history.
Activity Level
Let's Go!
Walking from three blocks up to one mile over the course of the day. Some stairs, walking on boat decks and uneven surfaces.
Best of all, you’ll…
- Learn intimate, little-known details about the ship through special classes and field trips.
- Relive the experience of life aboard the “Mighty Mo” by spending a night on the ship.
- Work in the beautiful Hawaiian weather with spectacular views of Pearl Harbor, mountains and ocean.
General Notes
Due to the nature of this program, listening devices are not available.
Featured Expert
All trip experts
Steve Kooiman
Steven served in the U.S. Navy for 24 years and has visited many World War II battle sites. He moved to Hawaii in 1983 and has called it home ever since. An avid WWII history buff, Steven served as an instructor on the battleship Missouri. He eventually became the education manager, and enjoys teaching new staff members and students of all ages. Steve has had the honor of working at the USS Arizona memorial and leading groups at Pearl Harbor.
Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.
Steve Kooiman
View biography
Steven served in the U.S. Navy for 24 years and has visited many World War II battle sites. He moved to Hawaii in 1983 and has called it home ever since. An avid WWII history buff, Steven served as an instructor on the battleship Missouri. He eventually became the education manager, and enjoys teaching new staff members and students of all ages. Steve has had the honor of working at the USS Arizona memorial and leading groups at Pearl Harbor.
Suggested Reading List
(24 books)
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
All Hands on Deck: Maintaining the USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor
Program Number: 2617
Dismembering Lahui, A History of the Hawaiian Nation to 1887
Osorio charts the effects of Western law on the national identity of Native Hawaiians in this political history of the Kingdom of Hawaii from the onset of constitutional government in 1840 to the Bayonet Constitution of 1887.
Plague And Fire, Battling Black Death And the 1900 Burning of Honolulu's Chinatown
Mohr relates the gripping tale of the bubonic plague that reached Hawaii's shores just as the islands were about to become a U.S. territory through the eyes of the people caught up in the vast conflagration that engulfed Honolulu's Chinatown.
Mark Twain's Letters from Hawaii
These observant and often wildly hilarious letters from an 1866 trip display Twain's famous wit.
Fodor's O'ahu, With Honolulu, Waikiki, and the North Shore
A practical guide in the popular series, saturated with valuable information on accommodation, shopping, sights, and dining on the island of Kaua'i.
Nation Within, The History of the American Occupation of Hawai'i
Coffman follows the rising tensions between the U.S. and the once-independent Hawaii through the late 19th century, documenting how the native population resisted annexation.
From a Native Daughter, Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawaii
Trask, a descendant of the Pi'ilani line of Maui and the Kahakumakaliua line of Kauai, explores issues of racism and imperialism in Hawaii, documenting the work of native Hawaiian student organizations and the native Hawaiian self-governing organization Ka Lahuni Hawaii.
Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen
A poignant plea for sovereignty. Queen Liliuokalani, deposed by the United States in 1893, tells the story of her islands.
Unfamiliar Fishes
Tracking the Americanization of Hawaii from the arrival of the first missionaries in 1820 to the annexation in 1898 (Queen Liliuokalani was in Washington lobbying to save her nation during the McKinley inauguration), Vowell shows the complex interplay of god, business and tradition with her usual acerbic wit (and research).
Hotel Honolulu
This hilarious sendup of ex-pats and their ilk, drawing on Theroux's time in the islands, where he has a home, features a full cast of eccentrics who reside in and visit a fleabag hotel on the coast of Oahu.
Aloha Betrayed
Silva draws on newspapers, books, letters and contemporary accounts in Hawaiian for this eye-opening account of popular resistance to the annexation of Hawaii by the United States.
Pearl Harbor Ghosts, The Legacy of December 7, 1941
A well-researched and evocative look at the bombing of Pearl Harbor by a veteran travel writer. Clarke compares and contrasts the social life and culture of Hawaii on the day of the bombing and sixty years later, enumerating the changes wrought by WWII.
Pearl Harbor and Military Environs
A detailed map of the US bases bombed at Pearl Harbor. The reverse features period postcard images depicting 1940s Pearl Harbor.
Hawaii, Travellers' Wildlife Guides
This all-around field guide features color illustrations of commonly encountered birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fish with notes on Hawaii's geology and popular parks and reserves.
Hawaiian Islands Map
A map of all the individual Hawaiian Islands, including maps of O'ahu, Kaua'i, Maui, Moloka'i and Lana'i at 1:150,000 and of Hawai'i at 1:330,000. Includes an inset map of Waikiki.
Hawaii
A romantic, fictional overview of the islands' history, people and culture from prehistoric times to statehood in 1959.
Paradise Remade, The Politics of Culture and History in Hawaii
By focusing on the experience of the indigenous people of Hawaii rather than on that of their colonizers, Buck considers the transformation of Hawaiian culture over the past 200 years.
Captive Paradise, A History of Hawaii
A fascinating history of America’s youngest (and, arguably, most unique) state. Historian and biographer James Haley charts Hawaii’s epic journey from kingdom to statehood with authority.
Lost Kingdom
Royalty and rogues, sugar barons, politicians and missionaries all figure in Siler's riveting tale of Liliuokalani, the last queen of Hawaii.
Hawaii, Islands Under the Influence
A history of economic development in the islands from sandalwood and whaling to sugar, tourism and Japanese investment in the 1980s.
The Island Edge of America, A Political History of Hawaii
Journalist Tom Coffman brings Hawaii's story into the twentieth century through this reinterpretation of major events leading up to and following statehood in 1959.
At Dawn We Slept, The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor
A massive account of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, long but readable.
From Here to Eternity
One of the finest books on the army and World War II, this powerful tale is set among the soldiers at the US Army base at Diamond Head in 1941. While the army is the primary subject of the book, it's also a vivid portrait of Hawaii just before Pearl Harbor.
Hawaii Wildlife
A fold-up, laminated card featuring color drawings and short descriptions of commonly encountered birds, mammals and other critters of Hawaii.
The Food of Paradise, Exploring Hawaii's Culinary Heritage
Laudan takes readers on a thoughtful, wide-ranging tour of Hawaii's farms and gardens, fish auctions and vegetable markets, fairs and carnivals, mom-and-pop stores and lunch wagons to uncover the delightful complexities and incongruities in Hawaii's culinary history. With 150 recipes.