UH Mānoa NROTC midshipmen experience Pearl Harbor attack in virtual reality

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

Contact:

Link to video and sound (details below): https://bit.ly/3sX03Ak

WHO: University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa's first cadre of Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) midshipmen in partnership with Pacific Historic Parks.

WHAT: Donning virtual reality (VR) headsets, history was brought to life for the 25 midshipmen who were immersed in a 360-degree digital experience of the events of the December 7, 1941 attack of Pearl Harbor as part of their naval history course.

Two newly released VRs from Pacific Historic Parks placed them on the deck of the USS Utah, one of the battleships destroyed on that Sunday morning, and also put them in the cockpit of a Japanese fighter plane as it departed the carrier Akagi 230 miles north of Oʻahu and headed for the military airfields and Pearl Harbor.

WHEN: Tuesday, February 22, 2022

WHERE: UH Mānoa

WHY: The group of future military leaders, who were not born when 9/11 happened, were able to get a new kind of first-hand encounter experience of the 1941 attack that changed the world. The experience also helped them understand and prepare in the event of an attack similar to Dec. 7 or 9/11.

Additional information:

• The narrated VRs titled "Air Raid Pearl Harbor" and "Skies Over Pearl" run about 6 minutes each and are currently shown at the Pearl Harbor Virtual Reality Center at the USS Arizona Memorial.

• There are 25 midshipmen in the inaugural 2021-22 cohort (15 Hawaiʻi residents and 10 out-of-state residents), with a mix of male (18) and female (7) students.

• The UH Mānoa NROTC program educates and trains young men and women for leadership positions in the Navy and Marine Corps.

• Their mission is to develop midshipmen morally, mentally and physically to instill in them the highest ideals of honor, courage and commitment.

• The program is actively recruiting students both locally and across the mainland for the 2022-23 academic year.

• Established in 2020, UH Mānoa is the first university to host a new NROTC program in the country since 2016.

• More information is available on the UH Manoa NROTC website and Facebook page.

Link to video and sound (details below): https://bit.ly/3sX03Ak

VIDEO:

BROLL: (1 minute, 58 seconds)

0:00-1:33 - NROTC students with VR headsets with clips from the actual virtual reality.
1:33-1:58 - Q&A after viewing the virtual reality

SOUND:

Lt. Sawyer Smith, UH Mānoa NROTC Aviation Officer

(0:17)
"It's important for them to see this virtual reality simulation because as the plankowners of Hawaiʻi's first Naval ROTC Command they need to see what is in their region's background and their history."

Kirsten Spillman, UH Mānoa NROTC 4th Class Midshipman

(0:18)
"I really enjoyed the aircraft because I want to go into aviation so that whole perspective of kinda getting to look at Japanese and American perspectives while up in the aircraft, I think it was really educational and it was eye opening to experience how the sailors felt that day."

Dylan Yamaguchi, UH Mānoa NROTC 4th Class Midshipman

(0:16)
"I thought it was pretty interesting because it was a new way of learning our history. In the history books we could read it and imagine it in our minds, but the VR headsets actually showed us what it really was."

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.