It was to say the least, high drama unfolding on the waters of Pearl Harbor with Navy seals ready in place.

It was in anticipation of an historic gesture of reconciliation -- a private ceremony at the Arizona Memorial with President Barrack Obama and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that took place Tuesday.

But it was on the ride back on the Admiral's yacht that a little bit of history unfolded, in a most remarkable way.   

You see, President John F. Kennedy had been the first president to visit the memorial after it had opened in the 1960's.