Remembering the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor and honoring those that fought and died 73 Years Ago, December 7 1941. The USS Oklahoma, nearby the Arizona, rolled over and trapped 14 men inside. 3 made a daring, Poseidon Adventure style escape, while rescue crews had to cut out the others. They were discovered by their pounding on the hull with tools from the inside. The USS Arizona had an massive explosion in the forward magazine. It is doubtful any were alive, at least not for very long, after she settled into the mud. As on many sinking ships its possible that many were drowned as watertight compartments where closed off, however, the attack and explosion happened so quickly and was so destructive, It was doubtful that the order to close compartments was ever relayed from the bridge. There are in fact the bones of 1000 men still inside the hull. In the late sixties, Jacque Cousteau, the famous French Oceanographer was given permission to explore the hull for National Geographic. The USS Arizona Memorial is the final resting place for 900 of her 1,177 fallen crewmen who are still entombed in her. The Navy after the attacks worked frantically to free the crew but, the technology of the day allowed the rescuers to get 277 of them out of the burning ship. It would be too dangerous today to remove the rest of the crew with the saltwater working on the steel hull for over 60 years. The memorial, dedicated in 1962, 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. 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. This stands for 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 Arizonaor 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. youtu.be/eNduNm4fn5c
Posted on: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 09:31:16 +0000
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