Article snippet: President Donald Trump this weekend kicks off his inaugural visit to Asia, but he first stopped in Hawaii on Friday to visit the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor and to receive a briefing from U.S. Pacific Command. The president and first lady Melania Trump participated in a wreath laying ceremony inside the USS Arizona Memorial in honor of the more than 2,400 Americans who died in the attack by Japan. In a somber moment, the two then tossed white flower petals onto the sunken USS Arizona, and stood back to view the underwater battleship as the petals drifted away. They were accompanied by U.S. Pacific Commander Admiral Harris. This was the president's first visit to Pearl Harbor -- something he described during the U.S. Pacific Command briefing as something he's "read about, spoken about, heard about, studied, but I haven't seen," adding the visit "is going to be very exciting for me." At the White House in July, the president honored a group of three World War II veterans who survived the attack on the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor. "For these three World War II veterans, Dec. 7, 1941, the brutal attack on Pearl Harbor, is forever seared into their memories. It's also seared into America's memory because on that grim day this mighty nation was roused to defend freedom itself," Trump said at the time. The stop precedes his inaugural visit to Asia, a 13-day, five-country tour to Japan, South Korea, China, Philippines. Trump said Friday... Link to the full article to read more