INFAMY RELIVED TWO TOURS PROPEL VISITORS BACK TO THAT FATEFUL DAY AT PEARL HARBOR.

Byline: Richard Irwin Staff Writer

HONOLULU - As our plane neared the end of its pass over the island of Oahu, a blazing blue harbor loomed in front of us. Pearl Harbor was certainly aptly named.

As we continued to descend, the gray blobs slowly transformed themselves into the outlines of Navy ships docked around the natural harbor. We centered our spinning prop on one of the largest ships.

As we closed in, the battleship, resting peacefully against the dock, lay directly in our sights. Gradually, the massive warship grew, until it filled our field of vision.

Now I knew what the Japanese pilots had experienced on Dec. 7, 1941, when waves of aircraft from the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the slumbering Pacific Fleet.

This fascinating and sobering new tour, operated by Island Seaplanes Services, gives tourists an opportunity to retrace the flight path of the Japanese bomber pilots on that day of infamy.

It's just one of a couple of tours that seek to re-create a sense of that cataclysmic event, which plunged the United States into World War II.

Another is the ``Home of the Brave'' tour, a historical land tour of sites that figured prominently in the attack. The quirky little Honolulu tour company that runs it is the only outfit authorized to tour the island's different military bases. The tour also includes a stop at the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, always a moving experience for visitors.

Interest in the attack and its pivotal place in American history figures to escalate with the opening this weekend of ``Pearl Harbor,'' the blockbuster Hollywood film starring Ben Affleck.

If the movie in turn heightens curiosity among visitors to the islands, Oahu will be ready for them.

The seaplane tour, which costs $139 per person, provides one such chilling perspective.

Our small plane first descended through clouds on an approach to the island, and Oahu's north shore came into view - a geyser of spray shooting high into the air as huge waves pounded the rocks below.

The verdant green mountains soared high above the pounding surf, threatening to block our passage further inland. Only the thrumming of the propeller kept us from hearing the laughter below as surfers attempted to ride the azure crests.

Banking into a deep valley, we found ourselves boxed in by the towering mountains and followed the brilliant green valley into the heart of the island. Pineapple fields could be spotted here and there, while sugar cane covered the ground below.

Soon, a sprawling military base filled our windshield. Schofield Army Barracks is the largest Army base outside the continental United States. It was a beehive of activity, with soldiers and vehicles scurrying along a network of roads.

Our flight path continued on to Wheeler Army Airfield, where aircraft sat neatly lined up along the runway. Here and there a vehicle raced across the tarmac from the row of hangars.

And then Pearl Harbor itself came into view.

Looking almost straight down, I saw the somber white memorial straddling the USS Arizona - one of the many battleships sunk that day, resulting in a tremendous loss of life.

My aerial adventure gave me one perspective of that day. The land tour, which costs $69 for adults, provided another.

When the van pulled up to our hotel, a young man attired in an Army Air Corps uniform from World War II got out. He said he was there to take us ``back in time'' to the 1940s.

As we drove to Schofield Barracks, our guide discussed the events leading up to the attack. Using musical memories from the Glenn Miller band, he created an image of the idyllic lifestyle of the islands at the time.

Americans were cocooned in the knowledge that they were safe from attack. They believed they were immune to the war, buffered by wide oceans on each side.

On our tour, as we neared Schofield Barracks, our guide played President Franklin Roosevelt's famous declaration of war, including the famous ``day of infamy'' quotation.

As we drove in the main gate, the Army base seemed to go on forever. (It is probably best-known for its use in the movie ``From Here to Eternity.'')

During the attack, we were told, Japanese pilots warmed up their machine guns by strafing the Army base. Fortunately, the barracks were made of reinforced concrete, which protected the troops inside, but you can still see the pock marks where the rounds gouged the concrete.

It is hard to imagine what the young soldiers thought as airplanes emblazoned with the symbol of the rising sun swooped down on them. Surely they must have thought that an invasion had begun and they would soon be called to battle Imperial troops on the white, sandy beaches.

Moving south, the Japanese armada targeted Wheeler Army Airfield, our next tour stop. A solitary P-40 fighter remains there today, one of the aircraft used in the 1970 movie ``Tora Tora Tora.''

The flight line now holds rows of Army helicopters, but it's not hard to imagine rows of fighters stationed there to fend off any invaders. Unfortunately, the base commander had been worried about sabotage from Japanese sympathizers, so he ordered all the planes moved together in a cluster in the middle of the airfield.

This must have proved a tempting target to the Japanese fighters assigned to strafe the airfield - they couldn't miss the planes packed in neat rows. Meanwhile, Imperial dive bombers set the nearby hangars ablaze.

Not many American planes survived the onslaught. One of the few that did is now based at Fullerton Airport, where an aviation enthusiast is trying to restore it.

At the end of our tour, we drove to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl. There is a majestic beauty to this cemetery, which serves as the final resting place for more than 30,000 American sailors, soldiers and airmen. Among those buried here are 586 Pearl Harbor victims.

As we drove among the manicured lawns, I felt a peace of mind knowing that the victims of that awful attack were lying in such a beautiful place.

Growing up in Pittsburgh, I thought of Pearl Harbor as being half a world away. Although my father had fought in the war, I didn't appreciate his sacrifice. The closest I could come to the war was watching ``Combat'' on television, and even then Vic Morrow's Sgt. Saunders always seemed to come out on top.

It wasn't until I was much older that I realized what a cataclysmic event Pearl Harbor had been.

A visit to the USS Arizona Memorial on my first visit to Honolulu convinced me of that. The recent air and land tours only strengthened the realization, ensuring that Dec. 7 would never be the same for me, and that I would never forget the earth-shattering events that transpired that day.

IF YOU GO

--Island Seaplane Service Inc. offers an hourlong flight over most of Oahu's attractions, including Schofield Barracks, Wheeler Air Force Base and Pearl Harbor. The cost is $139 per person. Information: [phone]. E-mail: seaplane(at)lava.net.

-- The ``Home of the Brave'' tour runs Monday through Friday, making pickups at Waikiki hotels between 6 and 6:30 a.m., returning between 1:45 and 2 p.m. The cost is $69 for adults and $59 for children ages 2-11. .Information: [phone]; www.topguntours.com.

CAPTION(S):

6 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- 3; 1 -- color) A seaplane tour in Oahu follows the flight path of Japanese bombers on their attack run to Pearl Harbor in 1941. Today, the view from the plane takes in the USS Missouri and the USS Arizona Memorial. The Arizona, above, went down in a horrific explosion that day.

(4 -- 5) Above, from the point of view that the Japanese pilots would have had on Dec. 7, 1941, this photo shows the USS Arizona, now lying beneath its famous memorial, and the USS Missouri in the distance. Below, the entrance to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, the final resting place for 586 Pearl Harbor casualties.

(6) History-minded visitors to Oahu can board a seaplane to fly along the route taken by Japan's bomber pilots.

Box: If You Go (see text)