The Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor has had millions of words and images devoted to the event, and to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the USS Arizona Memorial, the National Park Service wants even more. The agency is sponsoring an art and essay contest, and also offering Pearl Harbor sunset boat tours May 27-28.
The memorial opened to the public on Memorial Day 1962, quickly becoming one of the most visited visitor destinations in Hawaii. According to the Park Service, last year more than 1.7 million visitors toured the memorial and the recently rebuilt shoreside museum facility operated by Pacific Historic Parks.
The service and Pacific Historic Parks, along with the Navy, are hosting the sunset boat tours as a fundraiser for restoration of the memorial, the final resting place for 1,177 sailors and Marines.
"Time, exposure to the elements and the high demand to visit this site (have) left the USS Arizona Memorial in need of repairs," said Paul DePrey, superintendent of the WWII Valor in the Pacific National Monument, of which the Arizona Memorial is a key component.
"We are planning to replace sections of the flooring, make repairs to the entry hall and assembly hall, and refurbish the exterior surface of the structure. The restoration also includes the replacement of the entire marble wall in the shrine room, which displays the names of the fallen heroes. We must act as good stewards of this site to ensure that it has another 50 years ahead of it."
The special tours begin at 5:30 p.m. and feature a ranger-narrated tour around Ford Island, with a stop at the USS Arizona Memorial. A minimum donation of $50 per couple is requested.
For information and reservations, visit www.PacificHistoricParks.org or call 954-8721. Donations can be made online at restore.arizonamemorial.org.
Entries in the art and essay contest should express the 50th-anniversary theme, "Built to Honor and Understand." Rules and prizes are available at www.PacificHistoricParks.org; contest applications must be submitted by June 15. The contest is open to contestants in three categories: grades K-6, grades 7-12 and adults.
