USS Arizona Memorial

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USS Arizona Memorial

IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)

Location
Nearest city
Coordinates

Pearl Harbor
Honolulu, Hawaii
212154N
157570WCoordinates:

212154N 157570W
10.50 acres (4.25 ha)
30 May 1962
1,556,808 (in 2005)
U.S. Navy
Governing body
National Park Service
Area
Established
Visitors

The USS Arizona (BB-39) sunk and burning during the attack on Pearl Harbor, 7
December 1941
The USS Arizona Memorial, located at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, marks the
resting place of 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors and Marines killed on USS Arizona (BB-39)
during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and
commemorates the events of that day. The attack on Pearl Harbor and the island of
Oahu was the action that led to the United States' direct involvement in World War II.
The memorial, built in 1962, is visited by more than two million people annually.[1]
Accessible only by boat, it straddles the sunken hull of the battleship without touching
it. Historical information about the attack, shuttle boats to and from the memorial, and
general visitor services are available at the associated USS Arizona Memorial Visitor
Center, which opened in 1980 and is operated by the National Park Service. The sunken
remains of the battleship were declared a National Historic Landmark on 5 May 1989.[2]

Contents

1 Memorial
o 1.1 Conception and funding
o 1.2 Design
o 1.3 Description
o 1.4 History

2 USS Missouri
3 Visiting the memorial
4 Honors
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Memorial

Arizona in the 1950s.

Conception and funding

During and 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 W. 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. In that same year a temporary memorial was
built above the remaining portion of the deckhouse.[3] Radford requested funds for a
national memorial in 1951 and 1952 but was denied because of budget constraints
during the Korean War.
The Navy placed the first permanent memorial, a ten-foot-tall basalt stone and plaque,
over the mid-ship deckhouse on December 7, 1955.[4] President Dwight D. Eisenhower
approved the creation of a National Memorial in 1958. Enabling legislation required
that the memorial budgeted at US$500,000 be privately financed; however, $200,000 of
the memorial cost was actually government subsidized.
Principal contributions[5] to the memorial included:

$50,000 Territory of Hawaii initial contribution in 1958

$95,000 privately raised following a 1958 This Is Your Life television segment
featuring Rear Admiral (ret.) Samuel G. Fuqua,[6] Medal of Honor recipient and
the senior surviving officer from USS Arizona

$64,000 from 25 March 1961 benefit concert by Elvis Presley

$40,000 from the sale of plastic models of the Arizona in a partnership between
the Fleet Reserve Association and Revell Model Company
$150,000 from federal funds in legislation initiated by Hawaii Senator Daniel
Inouye in 1961

During planning stages, the ultimate purpose of the memorial was the subject of
competing visions. Some were eager to keep it a tribute to the sailors of the Arizona,
while others anticipated a dedication to all the war dead of the Pacific theater.[7] In the
end, the legislation authorizing and funding the memorial (HR 44, 1961) declared that
the Arizona would "be maintained in honor and commemoration of the members of the
Armed Forces of the United States who gave their lives to their country during the
attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941."[7]

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.[8] The United States Navy specified that the memorial be in the form of a
bridge floating above the ship and accommodating 200 people.[citation needed]
The 184-foot (56 m)-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". [9]
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."[10]

Description

"To the Memory of the Gallant Men Here Entombed and their shipmates who gave their
lives in action on 7 December 1941, on the U.S.S. Arizona"
inscription in marble with the names of Arizona's honored dead
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.
Rumor says this symbolically represents a 21-gun salute or 21 Marines standing at
eternal parade rest over the tomb of the fallen, but guides at the site will confirm that
this was not the intention of the architect. The memorial also contains an opening in the
floor overlooking the sunken decks. It is from this opening that visitors come to pay
their respects by tossing flowers in honor of the fallen sailors. In the past, leis were
tossed in the water, but because string from leis poses a hazard to sea life, leis now are
placed on guardrails located in front of the names of the fallen.
One of the three 19,585-pound anchors of the Arizona is displayed at the entrance of the
visitor center. (One of the other two is at the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix.) One of
the two ship's bells is in the visitor center. (Its twin is in the clock tower of the Student
Memorial Center at the University of Arizona in Tucson.)
The shrine at the far end is a marble wall that bears the names of all those killed on the
Arizona, protected behind velvet ropes. To the left of the main wall is a small plaque
which bears the names of thirty or so crew members who survived the 1941 sinking.
Any surviving crew members of the Arizona (or their families on their behalf) can elect
to have their ashes interred within the wreck, by U.S. Navy divers [11]

History
The USS Arizona Memorial was formally dedicated on 30 May 1962 (Memorial Day)
by Texas Congressman and Chairman of Veteran Affairs Olin E. Teague and Hawaii
Governor John A. Burns.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 15 October 1966. While the
actual wreck of USS Arizona was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1989, the
memorial itself does not share in this status. Rather, it is listed separately from the
wreck on the National Register of Historic Places. The joint administration of the
memorial by the United States Navy and the National Park Service was established on 9
September 1980.

The "tears of the Arizona". Oil slick visible on water's surface above the sunken
battleship.
Oil leaking from the sunken battleship can still be seen rising from the wreckage to the
surface of the water. This oil is sometimes referred to as "the tears of the Arizona"[12][13]
or "black tears."[14] In a National Geographic feature published in 2001, concerns were
expressed that the continued deterioration of the Arizona's bulkheads and oil tanks from
saltwater corrosion could pose a significant environmental threat from a rupture,
resulting in a significant release of oil.[15] The National Park Service states that it has an
ongoing program closely monitoring the condition of the submerged vessel.
The Park Service, as part of its 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.[16]

USS Missouri

The USS Missouri and USS Arizona memorials.

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 (parallel
to the Arizona). Upon the deck of USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, the Japanese
surrendered to United States General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester W.
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 war.
Memorial staff initially 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 Memorial was intended to convey that the Missouri now watches over the
remains of the Arizona so that those interred within the Arizona's hull may rest in peace.
These measures have helped preserve the individual identities of the Arizona Memorial

and the Missouri Memorial, thereby improving the public's perception of having both
Arizona and Missouri in the same harbor.[17]

Visiting the memorial

An observation site with interpretive materials; Battleship Row is in the distance

65 years after the attack on Pearl Harbor, retired Lieutenant Commander Joseph
Langdell, a USS Arizona survivor, recalls the experience at 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
Arizona. The Pacific Historic Parks Bookstore revenue helps support the museum.[13]
Access to the USS Arizona Memorial 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 people annually.[1] Because
of the large number of visitors and the limited number of boat departures, the 4,500
tickets available each day are often fully allocated by mid-morning.[18] 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 Web site provides visitor information, including hours of
operation and ticketing advisories.

USS Arizona and museum (center left) and the Admiral Clarey Bridge

A one-hour audio tour of the Memorial and Center exhibits, narrated by actress Jamie
Lee Curtis, 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 USS Bowfin, a
World War II Diesel submarine, which may be toured with separate, paid admission.
The battleship USS Missouri and the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor may also
be visited, but require a bus ride to Ford Island.
Every President of the United States since Franklin D. Roosevelt, and both Emperors
Hirohito and Akihito, have visited the site.[citation needed]

Honors

Crew of USS Abraham Lincoln (left) manning the rails near Missouri and the
USS Arizona Memorial
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,[when?] as foreign
military vessels are entering Pearl Harbor for joint military exercises, foreign troops
have participated in the traditional manning the rails.[citation needed]
The Arizona is no longer in commission, but is 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 is attached to the severed mainmast of the sunken battleship.[19]
The Arizona memorial is one of the nine major historical sites incorporated into the
wide-ranging World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, established by
Congress in 2008 and dedicated on 7 December 2010.[8]

See also

USS Utah (BB-31) wreck of ship lost at Pearl Harbor and memorial
U.S. Navy museums (and battleship museums)
USS Arizona salvaged artifacts

References
1.

 "Remembering Pearl Harbor: The USS Arizona Memorial". U.S. National Park
Service. Archived from the original on 15 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
"Arizona, USS (battleship) (shipwreck)". National Historic Landmark summary
listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
After The Battle magazine, Issue 38
Bergman, p. 37.
Arizona Memorial Museum Association. "Creating the Memorial". AMMA website.
Retrieved 2009-10-08.
"Samuel Glenn Fuqua". Recipients, World War II (A-F). Medal of Honor. United
States Army Center of Military History. 16 July 2007.
Bergman, Teresa (2013). Exhibiting Patriotism: Creating and Contesting
Interpretations of American Historic Sites. Left Coast Press. p. 39.
ISBN 9781598745979.
Bergman, p. 36.
By Treena Shapiro (27 May 2002). "Arizona Memorial seen as a dedication to
peace". Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
"USS Arizona Memorial - History & Culture". National Park Service. 18
September 2006.
"USS Arizona Interments". USS Arizona Preservation Project 2004. 18 December
2007. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
Horst Bendzulla. "The Tears of the Arizona". Artist's website. Retrieved 2009-1008.
Christine Hansen (SeptemberOctober 2007). "Little Big Store". Hana Hou! Vol.
10, No. 4. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
Tritten, Larry (7 December 2003). "`Black Tears' Still Shed For U.S.S. Arizona".
South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
"Oil and Honor at Pearl Harbor". National Geographic. June 2001. Retrieved 200801-02.
Bomar, Mary A. (August 2007). "Summary of Park Centennial Strategies" (PDF).
National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
Gregg K. Kakesako (15 October 1997). "Will Mighty Mo be too much?".
Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
"Plan Your Visit (USS Arizona Memorial)". National Park Service. Retrieved
2008-04-04.
19. "USS Arizona Memorial (National Park Service website)". Retrieved 201005-09.

External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to USS Arizona Memorial.

Official website
Interactive USS Arizona Memorial, search the memorial for names
USS Arizona Memorial Museum Association
Battleship Missouri Memorial
Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor

"Remembering Pearl Harbor:The USS Arizona Memorial", a National Park

Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan
High resolution, zoomable panorama taken inside the Arizona Memorial
A Memorial Day to Remember
Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. HI-13, "USS Arizona,
Submerged off Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Honolulu County, HI"

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