USS Arizona Memorial

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USS Arizona Memorial
The memorial above the wreck
The memorial above the wreck
USS Arizona Memorial (Hawaii)
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Coordinates: 21 ° 21 ′ 54 ″  N , 157 ° 57 ′ 0 ″  W.
Location: Hawaii , United States
Specialty: Memorial to the battleship USS Arizona sunk in the attack on Pearl Harbor
Next city: Honolulu
Surface: 4.25 ha
Founding: May 30, 1962
Visitors: 1,557,336 (2007)
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The USS Arizona sinks during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

The USS Arizona Memorial , in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii , marks the resting place of 1102 of the 1,177 sailors who perished in the sinking of the USS Arizona . This was triggered by the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941 . The structure commemorates the events of that day, after which the United States entered World War II.

The memorial, inaugurated in 1962 and visited by over a million people annually, spans the hull of the sunken warship without touching it. Since its opening in 1980, the USS is Arizona -Memorial- visitor center from the National Park Service operated jointly with the memorial. It offers the visitor historical information about the attack, trips with shuttle boats to the memorial and other visitor services. The Arizona wreck was named a National Historic Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places on May 5, 1989 .

The memorial

description

The National Memorial consists of three main areas: the entrance, assembly room, and shrine . The central assembly room has seven large openings in the ceiling and in both side walls, which are intended to remind of the date of the attack. The total number of openings symbolizes 21 gun salutes or 21 Marines standing at the grave of the fallen guard. There is also an opening in the floor through which you can look down at the wreck from which oil is leaking. The drops of oil are sometimes referred to as the "Tears of Arizona " or "Black Tears". Since the opening, visitors have thrown flowers and leis into the water to show their respect for the fallen. Leis are no longer allowed to be thrown into the water, as their strings pose a threat to marine biology. Visitors can attach the leis over the barrier in front of the shrine. One of the two approximately nine-tonne anchors of the Arizona is exhibited in the entrance of the visitor center. The counterpart is located in the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix .

Every US president since Franklin D. Roosevelt has visited the memorial, as have the Japanese emperors Hirohito and Akihito . The shrine at the far end consists of a marble wall that lists all the names of the fallen.

The "Tears of Arizona " - oil leaking from the wreck

Contrary to popular belief, the Arizona is no longer in active service. If anything, it is an active United States military cemetery. As a special homage to the ship and its crew, the flag of the United States flies on the flagpole that was attached to the severed main mast of the sunken ship. The flagpole is now to the side of the memorial. The USS Arizona Memorial has now become a memorial to all of the military who were killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor.

design

The National Memorial was designed by Honolulu architect Alfred Preis , who was incarcerated on Sand Island at the beginning of the war. He was considered an enemy of the state because he was born in Austria. The United States Navy determined that the memorial should be in the shape of a bridge that swings over the ship and that it should accommodate 200 people.

The 56 m long structure has a high point at each end. The two tips are connected by the sagging middle section. This represents great American pride before the war, the nation's sudden depression after the attack, and the growth of American power that reached new heights after the war. Critics described the design as a “squashed milk carton”.

Fundraising

“In memory of the fearless men who are buried here and their shipmates who lost their lives on the USS Arizona on December 7, 1941 ” - inscription in the marble wall with the names of the deceased.

After the end of World War II, the destroyed structure of the Arizona was removed and efforts to erect a memorial on the underwater hull were initiated. The Pacific War Memorial Commission was established in 1949 to build a permanent memorial somewhere in Hawaii. Admiral Arthur W. Radford , commander of the Pacific Fleet, fixed a flagpole on the main mast of the Arizona in 1950 and started the tradition of the flag parade. Radford applied for funds for a National Memorial in 1951 and 1952, but these were rejected due to budget constraints during the Korean War .

In the 1950s the complete dismantling of the Arizona was discussed. In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved the creation of the National Memorial . The approval required that the cost of the monument in the amount of 500,000 USD to be financed privately. This was not done, so that $ 200,000 was subsidized by the state.

The following made a decisive contribution to the financing:

  • $ 50,000 seed capital from the Territory of Hawaii in 1958
  • $ 95,000 in private donations according to a television report about Samuel G. Fuqua, Medal of Honor holder and senior Arizona survivor
  • $ 64,000 through an Elvis Presley benefit concert on March 25, 1961
  • $ 40,000 from sales of plastic Arizona models through a partnership between the Fleet Reserve Association and Revell Model Company
  • US $ 150,000 in federal funds, the approval of which was initiated by Hawaiian Senator Daniel Inouye in 1961.

The USS Arizona Memorial was inaugurated on May 30, 1962 ( Memorial Day ) by the Texas Congressman and Chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs Olin E. Teague and the Governor of Hawaii John Anthony Burns .

The revenues from the Pearl Harbor National Monument bookstore support the operation of the museum.

Subsequent developments

The Arizona , a Pennsylvania- class battleship of the United States Navy , was sunk in the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The wreck was not recovered, but became a memorial to the victims of this attack.

The memorial was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966 . While the actual wreck of the Arizona was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989 , the memorial does not share this status. Rather, it is listed separately from the wreck on the National Register of Historic Places. Joint management of the memorial by the United States Navy and the National Park Service was introduced on September 9, 1980.

A 2001 article in National Geographic Magazine reported the continued deterioration in the condition of bulkheads and oil tanks due to corrosion from the salt water. Concerns have been expressed that there is an environmental threat from major oil spills. The National Park Service announced that an ongoing program is closely monitoring the condition of the sunk ship.

As part of the Centennial Initiative to celebrate the National Park Service's 100th anniversary in 2016, a traveling exhibition is planned to help promote the memorial across the United States. This tour is also intended to collect oral narratives about the attack on Pearl Harbor.

memorial

Admiral Arthur W. Radford , ( United States Pacific Command ) first hoisted a flag on the wreck in 1950. In 1961, the USS Arizona Memorial was built over the wreck and was designated a national shrine on May 30, 1962. The memorial built over the remains of the ship, which are under monument protection, but does not touch them. The memorial is listed on the National Register of Historic Places , but is not a listed building.

Honor

Every United States Navy , Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine ship that calls into Pearl Harbor follows the tradition of front line honor . The crew of the ship appears in dress uniform on the deck and salutes the USS Arizona Memorial as the ship slowly enters the port. Recently, foreign warships that entered the port of Pearl Harbor during joint maneuvers have adopted this tradition.

tomb

The members of the ship's crew who survived the attack can still be buried in the wreck of the Arizona after their death. The urn with the ashes of the deceased is buried by divers in the ship. It is also possible to scatter the ashes over the shipwreck.

USS Missouri

The crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln (left) pays tribute to the USS Missouri and the USS Arizona Memorial

In 1999, the battleship USS Missouri was moved from the west coast of the United States to Pearl Harbor and docked at right angles to the USS Arizona Memorial. On the deck of this ship, the Japanese surrendered to General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester W. Nimitz in Tokyo Bay , thus ending World War II. The coupling of the two ships became a powerful symbol of the beginning and the end of the United States' participation in the war.

The coupling of the two ships was not without controversy. The memorial staff criticized the Missouri's location as the large battleship would "overshadow" the memorial. To prevent this, the Missouri was hauled to the pier of the port. The new position ensured that the Arizona Memorial is out of sight during military ceremonies on the stern of the Missouri . The fact that the bow of the Missouri points towards the wreck of the Arizona creates the impression that the Missouri is watching over the remains of the Arizona so that it can rest in peace. These measures have secured the separate identity of the Arizona Memorial and the Missouri Memorial and improved the perception of the two memorials in one port.

 

Visiting the memorial

65 years after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Langdell, a survivor of the USS Arizona , at the memorial to the events of the attack.

The National Park Service- operated Visitor Center (coordinates: 21 ° 22 ′ 0.6 ″  N , 157 ° 56 ′ 21.1 ″  W ) is free to the public and houses a museum with exhibits about the attack on Pearl Harbor, such as z. B. the ship's bell of the Arizona . Access to the USS Arizona Memorial itself is via a US Navy boat, for which you need a numbered ticket, which you can get at the visitor center and which is valid for a set departure time. The memorial is visited by more than a million people annually. Due to the large number of visitors and the limited number of boat departures, the 4,500 tickets available are often sold out by mid-morning. Before entering the boat, a 23-minute film is shown about the attack on Pearl Harbor. The visit to the memorial is without a guide. The National Park Service website provides visitor information such as: B. the opening times and information on ticket allocation.

An hour-long audio tour, spoken by Oscar winner and World War II veteran Ernest Borgnine , can be borrowed from the visitor center. On the site of the visitor center there are further exhibits and a “circle of memory” along the shore line. Nearby is the USS Bowfin , a diesel- powered Balao- class submarine from World War II, which can be viewed subject to admission. The battleship Missouri and the Pacific Aviation Museum can also be visited. However, this requires a bus transfer to Ford Island.

 
  • Images of the USS Arizona Memorial

  • Aerial view with clearly visible oil trail

  • View from the visitor's boat to the memorial

  • Night shot of the 52nd anniversary of the attack in 1993

  • Visitors to the memorial

Web links

Commons : USS Arizona Memorial  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Remembering Pearl Harbor: The USS Arizona Memorial . US National Park Service. Retrieved May 9, 2008.
  2. ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Hawaii . National Park Service , accessed August 8, 2017.
  3. ↑ USS ARIZONA Wreck in the National Register Information System. National Park Service , accessed August 8, 2017.
  4. ↑ The Tears of the Arizona ( Memento of the original from May 11, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tearsofthearizona.org
  5. ↑ a b Christine Hansen: Little Big Store . In: Hana Hou! Vol. 10, No. 4 . September / October 2007. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
  6. ↑ By Treena Shapiro: Arizona Memorial seen as a dedication to peace . In: Honolulu Star Bulletin . May 27, 2002. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
  7. ↑ Creating the Memorial ( Memento of the original from July 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.arizonamemorial.org
  8. ↑ United States Army Center of Military History : Samuel Glenn Fuqua . In: Medal of Honor Recipients, World War II (AF) . updated July 16, 2007. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
  9. ^ Remembering Pearl Harbor: The USS Arizona Memorial lesson plan
  10. ↑ NHL Writeup  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.nr.nps.gov  
  11. ^ "Oil and Honor at Pearl Harbor" . National Geographic Magazine . June 2001. Retrieved January 2, 2008.
  12. ^ Mary A. Bomar : Summary of Park Centennial Strategies (PDF) National Park Service. August 2007. Retrieved February 15, 2008.
  13. ^ History of Memorial
  14. ↑ USS Arizona Preservation Prolekt website ( memento of the original from December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. by the Past Foundation of the National Park Service and the US Department for the Interior, accessed February 25, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / pastfoundation.org
  15. ↑ Gregg K. Kakesako: Will 'Mighty Mo' be too much? . In: Honolulu Star Bulletin . October 15, 1997. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
  16. ^ Plan Your Visit (USS Arizona Memorial) . National Park Service . Retrieved April 4, 2008.