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Showing posts with the label Cemetery

Punchbowl Crater: A Trip Back Thru the Wars

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Wall of MIA soldiers from the Vietnam War Just around the corner from my house stands a volcanic crater known as Punchbowl Crater. Created by a rejuvenation eruption series 100,000 years or so, Punchbowl is now a National Memorial Cemetery with the remains of over 53,000 veterans from WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. WWII Battles Diamond Head Crater   It is a surreal experience coming from the hustle and bustle of Honolulu and dropping into the serene crater of Punchbowl. The first thing you see as you enter the gates is a long drive heading way up to a huge white memorial. An information booth is set off just to your right as you enter in case you want to find anyone in particular who may be buried here. Then you pass rows upon rows of graves on the way to the memorial. My first time here I sat in front of the tile artwork learning a ton about the different wars. Each major battle, offensive, defensive, and front lines are shown on the tile maps. I wanted to ...

Chinese Manoa Cemetery

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  A beautiful Chinese cemetery sits atop a green hill deep within Manoa Valley. Also known at Lin Yee Chung Manoa Chinese Cemetery, this spot is open for visitors until 6pm daily. Heidi and I had turned back from doing a late Manoa waterfall hike due to some rain showers so we decided to walk around the cemetery grounds instead.   I had been here before but never close to sunset. The low sun cast long shadows on the gravestones and gave the entire scene an ethereal aura. We could look down the valley towards the ocean and see the high rises of Waikiki, but it seemed very far away from our serene spot. Giant plumeria trees offered easy pickings for flower offerings for the deceased. And intricately carved animal statues stood guard over some of the bigger graves. At the top of the hill stood a huge banyan tree and the grave of Lin Yee Chung , the grand ancestor.   Heidi and I walked around for a while, never seeing another soul. In our exploration we stumbled ...