I was stationed in Hawaii twice in my military career and now reside on Oahu. I have been to the USS Arizona numerous times with visiting friends and family. The many upgrades to the visitor’s center and visitor experience over the years is outstanding and only gets better with each tweaking. I always tell my guests you cannot visit Oahu without visiting the USS Arizona. Seeing the movie prior to visiting the memorial sets the tone and no matter how many times I visit I am overcome with a profound sense of sadness for all the men interred below the memorial; sadness for all the lives lost that fateful day and also a tremendous sense of pride and thankfulness for being an American. Sadly, the men and women of the “greatest generation” are leaving this earth. This memorial remains a testament to countless men & women who served and especially those who were there on “that day of infamy.”
Sincerely,
Pearl Harbor National Memorial
Lying beneath the surface of the calm waters of Pearl Harbor, just outside downtown Honolulu are the remains of the USS Arizona and the more than 1,000 members of the boat's crew who lost their lives when it sank during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. A stark white memorial rises out of the water above the sunken ship to commemorate the Arizona sailors and all of the civilians and servicemen and women who were killed on that "date which will live in infamy." Parts of the ship can be seen from the memorial, as well as dark slicks from the oil that still leaks from the ship more than 65 years later. The interior of the memorial displays the names of all the Arizona sailors who perished along with the names of crew members who survived the Pearl Harbor attack yet chose to be buried with their shipmates.
State(s): Hawaii
Established: 1980
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