Qualla: National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific

National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific: Introduction

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Cumulus Clouds, CC BY-SA 3.0. Ernie Pyle was one of the first five people buried here. The Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent, who had survived the beaches of Normandy only to be killed by a Japanese sniper on Ie Shima in April 1945, was laid to rest on July 19, 1949, alongside an unknown serviceman, two Marines, and an Army lieutenant. They were the inaugural interments at a cemetery that would grow to hold more than 53,000 souls inside the bowl of an extinct volcano overlooking the city of Honolulu.

Image: Cumulus Clouds | CC BY-SA 3.0

National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific: A City of the Dead Above a City of the Living

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit MPSharwood, CC BY-SA 4.0. The idea of putting a cemetery in Punchbowl Crater was first proposed in the 1890s and promptly rejected. Critics recoiled at the notion of building a necropolis on a hill above Honolulu, and practical concerns about water contamination sealed the argument. Half a century later, ...

Image: MPSharwood | CC BY-SA 4.0

National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific: Bringing Them Home

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Daniel Ramirez from Honolulu, USA, CC BY 2.0. Before the cemetery even opened to the public, remains began arriving from across the Pacific Theater. The logistics were staggering. Bodies were exhumed from temporary burial sites on tropical islands, identified where possible, and transported to Hawaii for permanent interment....

Image: Daniel Ramirez from Honolulu, USA | CC BY 2.0

National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific: Twenty-Eight Thousand Names on Stone

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Joel Bradshaw, CC0. At the top of the cemetery, past rows of flat granite headstones that replaced the original white wooden crosses in 1951 -- a change that provoked public outcry despite the Army's warnings -- stands the Honolulu Memorial. Erected in 1964 by the American Battle Monuments Commissio...

Image: Joel Bradshaw | CC0

National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific: The People Who Rest Here

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Daniel Ramirez from Honolulu, USA, CC BY 2.0. The Punchbowl holds Medal of Honor recipients from three wars, 34 in all. Many came from Hawaii's own communities -- men like Barney Hajiro, Shizuya Hayashi, and Yeiki Kobashigawa of the legendary 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the Japanese-American unit that became the most decor...

Image: Daniel Ramirez from Honolulu, USA | CC BY 2.0

National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific: The View from the Rim

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit MPSharwood, CC BY-SA 4.0. Millions of visitors come to the Punchbowl each year, making it one of Hawaii's most visited sites. The crater rim offers panoramic views of Honolulu, Diamond Head, and the Pacific. A 25-bell carillon nicknamed "Coronation," dedicated in 1956, sounds across the grounds. Sixty mem...

Image: MPSharwood | CC BY-SA 4.0