It's a volcanic island measuring 44 miles long by 30 miles across. It has a shore that is 227 miles long. It's called the island of Oahu, and it's a beauty.

Oahu is home to about 75% of the entire population of Hawaii which is made up of many islands . Honolulu is the capitol city and has the largest population in the state of Hawaii. It's the gateway to Hawaii and the U.S. of America. Honolulu is the most southern major U.S. city. It is also the westernmost major U.S. city. Honolulu gained historical significance as a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Today I flew out of Maui to Oahu. I have enjoyed almost a week in Maui with my nephew, Shane. It is only a hundred or so miles between the two islands, but flying is the only transportation between the two. Boat ferries stopped operating several years ago, leaving the airlines as the only option to travel between the two islands.

Once in Honolulu. I took the local bus to the world-famous Waikiki. The trip on the bus lines took us past a U.S. Army Military Museum. I took note of the location so I could go back to it later.

Once I settled into the Seaside Hawaiian Hostel, I did my usual 'first day in a place walk about town to get my orientation' .

My walk took me down the world-famous Waikiki beaches with the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean creating waves along it shores. There were swimmers, paddle-boarders, surfers, sail boats and para-sailing along with snorkeling and about any other water activity you could name going on. The waters were clear and so very blue.

There is more than just the welcoming beaches to Waikiki, though. I passed the first hotel built in Waikiki. It is the Moana Hotel, also known as the First Lady of Waikiki. It was built in the late 1800's and was the first large hotel in Waikiki. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Hawaii.

Eventually I reached my destination, the U.S. Army Museum. The building was built between 1909 and 1911 when the British, French, Russians, Germans and Japanese all had ships in the Pacific and were showing interest in Hawaii.

As other nations were looking at Hawaii as an economic and military port of call in the Pacific for their merchant and naval ships, the U .S. was expanding its defenses westward.

An interesting thing thing I discovered about this museum was that the building itself is the biggest artifact. Fort DeRussy was part of a series of fortifications whose mission was to defend Pearl Harbor and Honolulu Harbor from attacking battleships.

The museum is housed in the Battery Randolph. It's a massive reinforced concrete building with roofs as much as 12 feet thick, protecting soldiers inside the battery. On the ocean side of the battery, concrete was the equivalent of 30-feet thick. It was built in 1911 for two 14 inch guns that could fire as far as 14 miles. It was part of the coastal defense system that was to protect the Honolulu Harbor from invasion.

At the height of its day, the two 14 inch guns and two six inch guns were mounted on disappearing carriages. They were the largest guns in the entire Pacific from California to the Philippines .

The museum curator said:
"The disappearing carriages allowed the guns to remain hidden from sight of approaching battleships by solid concrete walls called parapets, capable of withstanding a direct hit from a 2,000-pound artillery shell. "To get the gun into the firing position, the artillery crew tripped a lever attached to a 50-ton weight. As the weight fell, it lifted the gun tube into battery (the firing position), and the gun was then ready to fire again."

A crew of roughly 14 artillerymen would load a A,A3/4-ton shell in the breech, and then load 340 pounds of gun powder behind that.

After lobbing the 1,556-pound shells up to 14 miles out to sea, the recoil automatically pushed the gun carriage back down behind its concrete parapet, protecting the Soldiers and gun from low-angle naval fire. The gun was then reloaded.

With the end of World War II came the realization that the fort was no longer capable of meeting the needs of the U .S. military in Hawaii. The giant guns were cut up and sold for scrap, having never fired a shot in anger or defense and the building became home to the Army Museum in 1976.

The museum exhibits display the military history of Hawaii, from the early Hawaiians to the present time. The first exhibit shows how the early weapons made from wood, shark's teeth, and stone were replaced with western firearms introduced by Captain Cook in the late 18th
century.

I walked into the ammunition room where there was a display of how the men prepared the projectiles for firing. There was a display of the shell loading system as well, which I found interesting.

Next there are exhibits showing the early Army aviation history in Hawaii; the Pearl Harbor attack; the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack on Hawaii's citizen's including martial law, citizen volunteers, and the treatment of Japanese Americans; the Korean War; and the Vietnam War.

After leaving the museum I wondered through the streets where I discovered the Waikiki Town Center. The many eating places and souvenir shops surrounded the stage where I was happy to find a Polynesian show being performed.

My first day in Waikiki was a busy one.