National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific

Few national cemeteries compete with the dramatic natural setting of the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. Known as Punchbowl, or Hill of Sacrifice, it formed some 75,000 to 100,000 years ago during the Honolulu period of secondary volcanic activity.

A crater resulted from the ejection of hot lava through cracks in the old coral reefs which, at the time, extended to the foot of the Koolau Mountain Range

The name Hill of Sacrifice relates to the history of the crater, first used as an altar where Hawaiians offered human sacrifices to pagan gods and the killed violators of the many taboos.

During the reign of Kamehameha the Great, a battery of two cannons was mounted at the rim of the crater to salute distinguished arrivals and signify important occasions.

In the 1880s, leasehold land on the slopes of the Punchbowl opened for settlement and in the 1930s, the crater was used as a rifle range for the Hawaii National Guard.

Toward the end of World War II, tunnels were dug through the rim of the crater for the placement of shore batteries to guard Honolulu Harbor and the south edge of Pearl Harbor.

During the late 1890s, a committee recommended that the Punchbowl become the site for a new cemetery for the growing population of Honolulu, idea rejected for fear of polluting the water supply and the emotional aversion to creating a city of the dead above a city of the living. 50 years later, Congress authorized to establish a national cemetery in Honolulu with two provisions: the location be acceptable to the War Department, and the site be donated rather than purchased.

In 1943, the governor of Hawaii offered the Punchbowl for this purpose. The $50,000 appropriation proved insufficient, deferring the project until after World War II. By 1947, Congress and veteran organizations pressured the military to find a permanent burial site in Hawaii for the remains of thousands of World War II servicemen on the island of Guam awaiting permanent burial.

The Army planned for Punchbowl cemetery; in February 1948 Congress approved funding and construction began. Prior to the opening of the cemetery for the recently deceased, the remains of soldiers from locations around the Pacific Theater-including Wake Island and Japanese POW camps-were transported to Hawaii for final interment, first interment on 01-04-1949, opened to the public on 07-19-1949, with services for five war dead: an unknown serviceman, two Marines, an Army lieutenant and one civilian-noted war correspondent Ernie Pyle.

The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific memorial pathway, lined with a variety of memorials to honor America's veterans from various organizations. As of 2005, there were 63 such memorials to commemorate soldiers of 20th-century wars, including those killed at Pearl Harbor.

Highly recommend a visit, reflect and honor those who have sacrificed their lives for our right to live our lives in freedom!