The Honolulu memorial was erected in 1964 by the "American Battle
Monuments Commission" at the National Memorial Cemetery in honor of the
sacrifices and accomplishments of American Armed Forces in the Pacific
during both World Wars and the Korean War. The National Memorial
Cemetery, informally known as Punchbowl, is located at the middle of the
"Puowaina crater" which is an extinct volcano that had been active some
75,000 to 100,000 years ago.
Punchbowl or Puowaina as it is
translated in the Hawaiian language means "consecrated hill" or "hill of
sacrifice" used to be the location where secret Royal burials were
performed and where sacrifices of certain kapas (taboos) were made to
pagan gods. The crater also served during the 1800s as a stronghold
for Oahu in their resistance against the reign of Kamehameha, who
united the Hawaiian islands in 1810. The Hawaiian National Guard used
the crater as a rifle range during the 1930s and toward the end of
World War II, offshore batteries were placed in tunnels dug at the rim
of the crater to protect the Honolulu Harbor and the South edge of Pearl
Harbor.
Punchbowl was officially recognized a national cemetery
in 1943 when the governor of Hawaii offered the location for that
purpose. The first internment took place on the 4th of January 1949 and
the cemetery became open to the public on the 19th of July 1949. In
1980, the names of more than 28,788 military personnel missing in action
or lost in the Pacific during the war were added on marble slabs in ten
courts of the missing that flanks the Memorial grand stone staircase.
The
National Cemetery of the Pacific was the first cemetery to include
medal of honor headstones which have an insignia in gold leaf. As in the
graves of other National cemeteries around the country, no cross marks the
grave of the dead. The Punchbowl is among one of the most popular
touristic destination with more than five million visitors each year. It also provides a panoramic breathtaking view of the island of Oahu.