Reality Check

Tucked away in the hills overlooking Honolulu is a drive lined with American Flags leading to a very special spot.

You are entering the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific where thousands are buried who gave their all for us to continue to enjoy our freedom.

This cemetery is sometimes referred to as the "Punchbowl" since it is inside the crater left by an ancient volcano in the shape of a huge punchbowl.

It is hard to get the perspective of distance, but this is but the center section with other burial sites around the outer areas in the crater.  The memorial statue at the end is huge.

Unlike some cemeteries of veterans, this one has the markers placed at grass level and each is marked with a number in the upper right hand corner.

The number helps one find a particular grave.  When we entered the cemetery an office building with computers allowed us to look up the name we were looking for and find the site because of the number recorded.  This man died the year I was born.  He was from North Dakota and was an Great Uncle of one of our friends.  Because Hawaii is so far from ND, to my knowledge none of this man's family has ever been able to visit the grave site.

"The solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom."