Everything about Uss Arizona Memorial totally explained
The
USS Arizona Memorial, located at
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, marks the resting place of 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors killed on the
USS Arizona during the
Attack on Pearl Harbor on
7 December 1941 by
Japanese imperial
forces and commemorates the events of that day. The attack on Pearl Harbor and the island of
Oahu was the action that led to
United States involvement in
World War II.
The memorial, dedicated in 1962 and visited by more than one million persons annually, spans the sunken hull of the battleship without touching it. Since it opened in 1980, the
National Park Service has operated the USS
Arizona Memorial Visitor Center associated with the memorial. Historical information about the attack, boat access to the memorial, and general visitor services are available at the center. One of the two 19,585 pound
anchors of the
Arizona is displayed at the entrance of the
visitor center. (Its twin is at the Arizona State Capitol in
Phoenix.)
National Memorial
Description
There are three main parts to the national memorial: entry, assembly room, and shrine. The central assembly room features seven large open windows on either wall and ceiling, to commemorate the date of the attack. The total number of windows is 21, symbolically representing a
21 gun salute or 21
Marines standing at eternal parade rest over the tomb of the fallen. It also contains an opening in the floor overlooking the sunken decks of the oil-seeping wreck. The oil seeping is sometimes referred to as "the tears of the
Arizona" or "black tears." It is from this opening that visitors come to pay their respects by tossing flowers and lei in honor of the fallen sailors. Every
President of the United States since
Franklin D. Roosevelt, and every
Emperor of Japan since
Hirohito, has made a pilgrimage to the site. The shrine at the far end is a marble wall that bears the names of all those killed on the USS
Arizona, protected behind velvet ropes. Contrary to popular belief, the USS
Arizona is no longer in commission. She is, however, an active U.S. military cemetery. As a special tribute to the ship and her lost crew, the United States flag flies from the flagpole, which was once attached to the severed mainmast of the sunken battleship. The flag pole is now attached to the side of the memorial. The USS
Arizona Memorial has come to commemorate all military personnel killed in the Pearl Harbor attack.
Design
The national memorial was designed by
Honolulu architect
Alfred Preis who had been detained at
Sand Island at the start of the war as an enemy of the country because of his Austrian birth. The
United States Navy specified that the memorial be in the form of a bridge floating above the ship and accommodating 200 people.
The long structure has two peaks at each end connected by a sag in the center of the structure. It represents the height of American pride before the war, the sudden depression of a nation after the attack and the rise of American power to new heights after the war. Critics initially called the design a "squashed milk carton".
The architecture of the USS
Arizona Memorial is explained by Preis as, "Wherein the structure sags in the center but stands strong and vigorous at the ends, expresses initial defeat and ultimate victory ... The overall effect is one of serenity. Overtones of sadness have been omitted to permit the individual to contemplate his own personal responses ... his innermost feelings."
Fundraising
Following the end of
World War II, the
Arizona's wrecked
superstructure was removed and efforts began to erect a memorial at the remaining submerged hull. The Pacific War Memorial Commission was created in 1949 to build a permanent memorial somewhere in Hawaii. Admiral
Arthur Radford, commander of the
Pacific Fleet attached a flag pole to the main mast of the Arizona in 1950 and began a tradition of hoisting and lowering the flag. Radford requested funds for a national memorial in 1951 and 1952 but was denied because of budget constraints during the
Korean War.
Throughout the 1950s there was discussion of scrapping the
Arizona altogether. President
Dwight D. Eisenhower approved the creation of the
National Memorial in 1958. Enabling legislation required that the memorial budgeted at
$500,000 be privately financed. This wasn't to prove the case. $200,000 of the memorial cost was government subsidized.
Principal contributions to the memorial included:
The USS
Arizona Memorial was finally dedicated on
May 30,
1962 (
Memorial Day) by
Texas Congressman and Chairman of Veteran Affairs
Olin E. Teague and
Hawaii Governor John A. Burns.
The Pearl Harbor National Monument Bookstore revenue helps support the museum. The National Park Service states that it has an ongoing program closely monitoring the condition of the submerged vessel.
The National Park Service, as part of their Centennial Initiative celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2016, is developing a "mobile park" to tour the continental United States to increase exposure of the park. The mobile park will also collect oral histories of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Manning the rails
Every
United States Navy,
Coast Guard, and
Merchant Marine vessel entering Pearl Harbor participates in the tradition of "
manning the rails". Personnel serving on these ships stand at attention at the ship's guard rails and salute the USS
Arizona Memorial in solemn fashion as their ship slowly glides into port. More recently, as foreign military vessels are entering Pearl Harbor for joint military exercises, foreign troops have participated in the traditional manning the rails.
USS Missouri
In 1999, the
battleship USS Missouri was moved to Pearl Harbor from the United States west coast and docked near, and perpendicular to, the USS
Arizona Memorial. Upon the deck of the USS
Missouri in
Tokyo Bay, the Japanese surrendered to United States General
Douglas MacArthur and Admiral
Chester Nimitz, ending World War II. The pairing of the two ships became an evocative symbol of the beginning and end of the United States' participation in the greatest and bloodiest war the world had ever seen.
The pairing of the two ships hasn't been free from controversy, however. Memorial staff have criticized the placement of the
Missouri, saying the large battleship would "overshadow" the
Arizona Memorial. To help guard against this perception
Missouri was placed well back of the
Arizona Memorial, and positioned in Pearl Harbor in such a way as to prevent those participating in Military Ceremonies on
Missouri's aft decks from seeing the
Arizona Memorial. The decision to have
Missouri's bow face the
Arizona Memorial was intended to convey that
Missouri now watches over the remains of the battleship
Arizona so that those interred within
Arizona's hull may rest in peace. These measures have helped preserve the individual identities of the
Arizona Memorial and the
Missouri Memorial, which has improved the public's perception of having both
Arizona and
Missouri in the same harbor.
»
Visiting the Memorial
The Visitor Center operated by the
National Park Service is free to the public and has a museum with exhibits about the Pearl Harbor attack, such as the
ship's bell from the USS
Arizona. Access to the USS
Arizona Memorial itself is by U.S. Navy boat, for which a numbered ticket, obtained at the Visitor Center and valid for a designated departure time, is required. The memorial is visited by more than one million persons annually. Before boarding the boat for the short trip to the Memorial, a 23-minute documentary film depicting the attack on Pearl Harbor is presented. Touring of the Memorial is self-guided. The National Park Service website provides visitor information, including hours of operation and ticketing advisories.
A one-hour audio tour narrated by Academy Award-winning actor and World War II Navy veteran
Ernest Borgnine is available for rent at the Visitor Center. On the Center's grounds along the shoreline are more exhibits and a "Remembrance Circle". Nearby is the
USS Bowfin, a World War II diesel
submarine, which may be toured with separate, paid admission. The battleship
USS Missouri (BB-63) and the
Pacific Aviation Museum may also be visited, but require a bus ride to
Ford Island.
»
Image:USS Arizona.JPG|Aerial view, with visible oil slick trailing in the current
Image:USS Arizona Memorial from the tour boat.JPG|The memorial as seen from an approaching visitors' boat
Image:ussarizonamemorialatnight.jpg|At night on the 52nd anniversary of the attack in 1993
Image:Arizonaguests.jpg|Visitors arriving at the memorial
Image:USS Arizona Dock closeup.JPG|Arizona's mooring quay
Image:Pearl az.jpg|Arizona's gun turret mount, carrier Nimitz in background
Image:IMG 8924.jpg|State flags placed inside the memorial
Image:UssArizona-flag.JPG|American flag waving over the memorial
Further Information
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