Travel: War Memorial USS Arizona

Visit The USS Arizona War Memorial

Harley Wade Craft

Visit the USS Arizona Memorial at World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument.  

Thank you to everyone who serves in the military. My heart goes out to anyone who has lost a loved one.  My mother never knew her father.  She knew her father had been married before and had a son.  Unfortunately by the time my mother was able to find this out, the son had died. 
I read about this in the information my mother left when she died.   I learned her brother  (my uncle,  Harley Wade Craft ) died at Pearl Harbor.  So I visited and took these pictures.   

I had such fun speaking with the World War II veterans that volunteer at the USS Arizona War Memorial in Pearl Harbor.  If you have never been to the site and you are lucky enough to visit Hawaii, a visit  is sure  to create a cherished memory.  Unlike other countries around the world, we have only a few memorials of war brought to our shores.  This memorial is very eerie the way it is designed.  It is built above the ship which was sunk to the bottom.  Parts of the area you  walk  on are left unadorned so you can look over the side into the water and see the ship. 

The story:  Shortly before 08:00 local time on 7 December 1941, Japanese aircraft from six aircraft carriers struck the Pacific Fleet as it lay in port at Pearl Harbor.  On board the Arizona, the ship's air raid alarm went off about 07:55.   Shortly after 08:00, the ship was attacked by 10 Nakajima B5N "Kate" torpedo bombers, five each from the carriers Kaga and Hiryū.  The last bomb hit at 08:06 in the vicinity of Turret II, likely penetrating the armored deck near the ammunition magazines located in the forward section of the ship.
She exploded and sank, killing 1,177 officers and crew.  Thirty seven  sets of brothers died. 

The Arizona is under the control of the National Park Service,  but the U.S. Navy still retains the title.  Arizona retains the right, in perpetuity, to fly the United States flag as if she were an active, commissioned naval vessel.

The wreck of Arizona remains at Pearl Harbor to commemorate the men of her crew lost that December morning in 1941. A memorial was built across the ship's sunken remains.  Upon their death, survivors of the attack may have their ashes placed within the ship, among their fallen comrades. Veterans who served aboard the ship at other times may have their ashes scattered in the water above the ship.

Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona  Memorial  welcome  over 1,700,000 visitors annually,  including the  Battleship Missouri Memorial,  USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and  The Pacific Aviation Museum . 

One of the original Arizona ship's bells now hangs in the University of Arizona Student Union Memorial Center bell tower. The bell is rung after every home football victory. A mast and anchor from Arizona are in Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza just east of the Arizona state capitol complex in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. Other artifacts from the ship, such as items from the ship's silver service, are on permanent exhibit in the Arizona State Capitol Museum.

Plan your visit today.

Toni Faile Lyerly