This was the day I have been looking forward to. I have many good memories of walking around the battleship…even got to spend the night on the ship when I was 8. So I was very excited to take the boys and had showed them the pictures of me and Mag on our honeymoon at the battleship. Here are some pics from 2001...
The trip from our hotel to the battleship led us through the I10 tunnel under the Mobile bay area. I had told Sam and Davis that we would be going under the biggest tunnel under water. They were very excited and then confused that they never saw any water, I guess they thought we would be going through some large shark tank tunnel.
As we turned into the Battleship Park and we saw the ship in the distance, Sam began to say “I think I am going to cry”. He was so excited, that his “eyes were watering”. It was so sweet and reminded me of how neat things like that were to little boys. I remember having a similar feeling in 2000 when walking up to the Grand Canyon…it is just simply amazing. Now I realize I have just compared the USS Alabama to the Grand Canyon, but to a little boy of 5…that is a fine comparison.
We began our tour on the outside of the boat touring the upper regions. As we continued to go up, Sam got a little scared and was done with the upper tour. He stayed on the third level with Mom and Anabelle, as Davis and I traveled on up to the 6th level. This was a rather slow process all day of Davis going up and down these steep ladders. Back down on the main floor, Magan decided that was enough for her, and sat and napped in the Wardroom (?? – air conditioned large room with couches) while I took the boys on the other two tours of the bottom decks of the ship.
We had fun playing on the bunks, working in the engine room, pretending to eat at the kitchen. And both of them were excited to get to “poop on the boat”. This also seemed exciting to me, but I did not have the need at the time.
We then left the battleship to eat lunch at the small welcome center café. It was a fairly good lunch (pizza and sandwiches). We also noticed a gentleman in uniform that had many medals. We pointed him out to the boys that he may have fought on the Alabama. Later as we were shopping around in the Welcome Center, I notice that he was signing books at a table in front. I saw a display that said he was a former POW during World War II. It also showed a picture I remembered from History books of the Bataan death march. I went up to him and introduced myself then asked if he was in the death march from Bataan. He pointed at the picture and said “Yes, this is me”, pointing towards a very thin young man at the front of the line in the picture. I asked him a little about his time over there and he said that during his 3 ½ years as a POW that “my hatred of the Japs got me through the POW years, and my hatred of the Japs got me through 30 years of nightmares, but forgiveness helped him finally get his life back”. I purchased his book “Hell’s Guest” (http://www.hellsguest.com/) and have since completed it. It is very well written and gives some shocking insights into the POW life. Colonel Glenn D. Frazier is now 86 years old, and was shipped to Bataan in 1941 at the age of 16. Great Story, truly the greatest generation.
We then toured the airplane hangar, then Mom got to roam around the claustrophobic submarine with the boys while I kept Belle. Back to the hotel, ready for rest, but still had to take the boys swimming. This was also the first time swimming for little Belle. She loved it and started laughing at her little splashes.
The trip from our hotel to the battleship led us through the I10 tunnel under the Mobile bay area. I had told Sam and Davis that we would be going under the biggest tunnel under water. They were very excited and then confused that they never saw any water, I guess they thought we would be going through some large shark tank tunnel.
As we turned into the Battleship Park and we saw the ship in the distance, Sam began to say “I think I am going to cry”. He was so excited, that his “eyes were watering”. It was so sweet and reminded me of how neat things like that were to little boys. I remember having a similar feeling in 2000 when walking up to the Grand Canyon…it is just simply amazing. Now I realize I have just compared the USS Alabama to the Grand Canyon, but to a little boy of 5…that is a fine comparison.
We began our tour on the outside of the boat touring the upper regions. As we continued to go up, Sam got a little scared and was done with the upper tour. He stayed on the third level with Mom and Anabelle, as Davis and I traveled on up to the 6th level. This was a rather slow process all day of Davis going up and down these steep ladders. Back down on the main floor, Magan decided that was enough for her, and sat and napped in the Wardroom (?? – air conditioned large room with couches) while I took the boys on the other two tours of the bottom decks of the ship.
We had fun playing on the bunks, working in the engine room, pretending to eat at the kitchen. And both of them were excited to get to “poop on the boat”. This also seemed exciting to me, but I did not have the need at the time.
We then left the battleship to eat lunch at the small welcome center café. It was a fairly good lunch (pizza and sandwiches). We also noticed a gentleman in uniform that had many medals. We pointed him out to the boys that he may have fought on the Alabama. Later as we were shopping around in the Welcome Center, I notice that he was signing books at a table in front. I saw a display that said he was a former POW during World War II. It also showed a picture I remembered from History books of the Bataan death march. I went up to him and introduced myself then asked if he was in the death march from Bataan. He pointed at the picture and said “Yes, this is me”, pointing towards a very thin young man at the front of the line in the picture. I asked him a little about his time over there and he said that during his 3 ½ years as a POW that “my hatred of the Japs got me through the POW years, and my hatred of the Japs got me through 30 years of nightmares, but forgiveness helped him finally get his life back”. I purchased his book “Hell’s Guest” (http://www.hellsguest.com/) and have since completed it. It is very well written and gives some shocking insights into the POW life. Colonel Glenn D. Frazier is now 86 years old, and was shipped to Bataan in 1941 at the age of 16. Great Story, truly the greatest generation.
We then toured the airplane hangar, then Mom got to roam around the claustrophobic submarine with the boys while I kept Belle. Back to the hotel, ready for rest, but still had to take the boys swimming. This was also the first time swimming for little Belle. She loved it and started laughing at her little splashes.
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