My wife's Uncle Roy was a sailor in World War II. Roy had a brother, George Bell, who was on the final voyage of the submarine USS Bullhead which was sunk by a Japanese plane in the Java Sea on August 6, 1945, the same day that the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. The Bullhead was the only sub failing to respond to the message to cease all hostilities as the war was over.
On our recent trip to Hawaii we paid our respects to George and all the war dead in the Pacific from World War II. There is still an oil sheen rising up from the sunken USS Arizona at the memorial. We toured the USS Bowhead, a sister ship to the Bullhead. We also toured the USS Missouri and saw where the Pacific War was formally ended with the surrender of the Japanese to General MacArthur. Overall, it was a very moving day with the highlight being our locating George Bell's name in the memorial circle to the US Submarine Service's war casualties.
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| The USS Bowfin, a sister ship to the USS Bullhead |
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| Pointing to G. L. Bell on the list of sailors on eternal patrol |
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| The Missouri marks the end and the Arizona the beginning of the war with Japan |
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| USS Arizona's oil still rises to the surface in rainbow colors |
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| The white buoy marks the Arizona's stern |
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| One of the Arizona's gun turret wells |
