Join Us For the 65th Anniversaries of Wake Island and Pearl Harbor
Los Angeles – Hawaii – Guam – Wake Island – Los Angeles

Our tour will begin in Los Angeles with a morning flight to Honolulu. Tour participants may want to consider spending the night in a LAX Airport hotel, to insure that they make this group flight. Stephen Ambrose Tours can assist in offering a group booking for a Los Angeles hotel. If you would like us to look into the cost of flying out of your home airport, please let us know and we would be happy to do so.

DAY 1 – December 6, 2006 – Los Angeles to Hawaii
Our group will depart Los Angeles on a morning flight and arrive Honolulu in the early afternoon. A group transfer to the hotel will be provided, and our tour will begin with a Welcome Reception and Dinner at the hotel in Hawaii. You will get the chance to meet our historian, veterans, and other tour participants. Our historian will give opening remarks and set the stage for our tour of the War in the Pacific.

DAY 2 – December 7, 2006 – Hawaii
This day marks the 65th Anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In the morning, participants will have the opportunity to attend several ceremonies commemorating this occasion.

In the afternoon, we will visit historic WWII sites around Honolulu. Ford Island is the centerpiece of the Pearl Harbor National Historic Landmark District and adjacent to Battleship Row. The original airfield, air tower, WWII hangars, a collection of bungalows and officers’ housing remain on the site. While on Ford Island, we will discuss the West Loch disaster, the USS Nevada, and visit the Utah Memorial, USS Missouri and the Pacific Aviation Museum.

Battleship Row, home to the USS Arizona Memorial, is built over the remains of the sunken battleship USS Arizona, the final resting place for many of the 1,177 crewmen killed on December 7, 1941. The loss of life on this “Day of Infamy” became the focal point for a nation that was previously divided over the issue of involvement in the war.

The group will visit the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific and the Honolulu Memorial, referred to as the Punchbowl. Located in Puowaina Crater, roughly translated, “Puowaina” means “Hill of Sacrifice.” Stunning battle maps are displayed at the memorial, and here we will hear an overview of the entire Pacific War.

DAY 3 – December 8-9, 2006 – Guam
Participants can enjoy a free morning in Honolulu, perhaps visiting more sites around the island, or taking a swim in the beautiful Pacific Ocean. That afternoon, we will take a flight to Guam and cross the International Date Line, actually landing in Guam in the later afternoon on December 9.

DAY 4 – December 10, 2006 – Guam
Our study of Guam will begin with the Invasion Beaches, Asan and Agat beaches. These two invasion beaches, separated by the Orote Peninsula, are located six miles apart, on the west central coast of Guam. Asan Point is a primary visitor area where the overall story of the Pacific War is told by means of museum exhibits. Historic sites, including a number of gun emplacements, caves, foxholes and pillboxes are located within the Asan Beach Unit. Gaan Point, at the center of Agat Beach, is another place of interest, which also contains many WWII sites and structures. The beach and offshore area here are relatively unspoiled and provides a good impression of how they looked in 1944.

One interesting aspect of the recapture of Guam was the role played by the Navajo Indian servicemen, who operated the radios openly conversing in their native tongue, unknown to the Japanese. This successful tactic completely baffled the Japanese, who expected to hear coded English. Another interesting place to visit in Guam is The War Dog Memorial. Located on the Naval Facility, it honors the Dobermans that served with the Marines in 1944 and who were killed in action performing duties such as leading scouting parties, exploring caves and serving as sentries.

In the evening, our group will attend the Guam-Wake Island Anniversary Banquet – a gala dinner event with invited national and local dignitaries. This dinner will help set the stage for our Wake Island tour the following day.

DAY 5 – December 11, 2006 – Wake Island
Within hours of the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941, about 1600 American marines and civilians found themselves under surprise attack from Japan on a tiny Pacific Island that they were hopelessly under prepared to defend. And yet they defended it so well against seemingly impossible odds that they became heroes back home, giving the United States its first taste of victory in the war.
Wake Island became our “Alamo of the Pacific” and we will commemorate this courageous battle on the island by visiting and touring the battlefields, and attending a Memorial Service and Wreath laying ceremony that is planned. There will free time in the afternoon to explore the island on your own.

DAY 6 – December 12, 2006 – Guam
We will visit the site where Japanese defenders had their last stand before their surrender – the place where Lt. Gen. Hideyoshi Obata had his last HQ and consequently, where he took his own life. After lunch, we will go to Andersen Air Field, which is important for a few different reasons. Andersen is where B-29 bombers took off from the island to attack targets in the Western Pacific and mainland Japan, and also many years later, it would be part of another war, as B-52 bombers flew from there to Vietnam in most of the heavy bombings. In the evening, as guests of the Third Marine Division Association, we will conclude the tour at a special farewell dinner.

DAY 7 – December 13, 2006 – Flight home
An early morning transfer will be provided to the airport.

Tour includes:
• Inclusive of all air from Los Angeles
• Access to Wake Island and 65th Anniversary Ceremonies
• Access to 65th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor Ceremonies
• First-class hotel accommodations
• Rooms with private bath or shower, hotel taxes, porterage and service charges
• Touring by private first class air-conditioned motor coach
• All entrance fees to museums and attractions
• Breakfast and dinner daily
• Full time historianOptional post tour:

An optional post tour may be available with Military Historical Tours to Peleliu and Koror. Please contact the office if interested.