"History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. History is who we are and why we are the way we are." — David C. McCullough

This year’s theme for the 73rd anniversary of Pearl Harbor is "Preserving the Memory." Some may ask: Why does the preservation of our national memory of December 7th garner such importance? How will the National Park Service at WWII Valor in the Pacific carry out the mission of preserving memory?

Perhaps to get the conversation started, these words of the American historian Steve Berry may assist:

"History is not something obscure or unimportant. History plays a vital role in our everyday lives. We learn from our past in order to achieve greater influence over our future. History serves as a model not only of who and what we are to be, we learn what to champion and what to avoid. Everyday decision-making around the world is constantly based on what came before us.

"Why? Because history matters!"

That history matters to me and to those that who work here on this sacred ground. As professionals we are dedicated to preserving that memory. But how did that principle begin here? And what were the elements that made the USS Arizona Memorial and that date in history so vital to the nation’s memory?

In 1980 the U.S. Navy transferred responsibility for operation of the USS Arizona Memorial and a new shore-side visitor center facility to the National Park Service (NPS). This new national park was established by Congress with a cooperative agreement with the Navy.

Thus began the role and responsibility of the NPS’s most treasured of America’s memorials. Its first superintendent, Gary Cummins, realized that NPS already had inherited relics of the Pearl Harbor attack. Many had been donated to the Navy from the years of its operation (1962-1979). This included battle artifacts, documents, books and photographic images. The era of "Preserving the Memory" had arrived.

Over the next few years Cummins made critical decisions to move the effort of preserving the history of Pearl Harbor. The park’s first museum curator, Mark Tanaka-Sanders, went to work on cataloguing artifacts and creating a park library and history files. Chief Ranger Mark Hertig moved forward with the implementation of interpretive training and education programs for the park rangers who would be giving talks at the memorial and the visitor center. Seasonal Ranger Edean Saito recalled, "I was a high school teacher and was tasked with providing school children who visited the Memorial an educational experience that would bring meaning and value to their visit."

Cummins also realized that the historical knowledge for the site was dismal. Legends, in some cases, had become accepted history. There was no consistent memory. A contract historian was hired to assist the NPS in developing a key document: the Historic Resource Study.

In October 1984, contract historian Michael Slackman presented to the National Park Service a manuscript, "Historic Resource Study: USS Arizona Memorial." Within these 486 pages were a detailed history of the attack on Oahu and specific facets on the devastation at Pearl Harbor. He also included chapters on the aftermath of the attack and the movement toward memorializing the sacrifice the USS Arizona rendered on that fateful day: Dec. 7, 1941.

It was the first public document that detailed the early history of the new National Park Service site and the USS Arizona Memorial. The popularity of the manuscript led to the conclusion that a publication for public sale should be undertaken — a comprehensive history of the Memorial preserving the memory of this beautiful, haunting architectural touchstone of our World War II past. Since 1985 to this day, this book, "Remembering Pearl Harbor, The Story of the USS Arizona Memorial," serves as the official history of the USS Arizona Memorial.

In 1986, dive operations were underway at sites of the sunken USS Arizona and Utah, the only two ships left from the Dec. 7 attack. A wealth of information was derived from these scientific explorations. Drawings were made, photographs taken and models made. A report was published for public interest and consumption. We continue to explore and examine these ships with today’s cutting edge technology, and that science provides insights to the preservation of their memory that is unsurpassed.

The years leading up to the 50th anniversary were fraught with controversy and open political battles over the commemoration of the Pacific War. The first national commemoration to be observed was at Pearl Harbor in December 1991. Author Dr. Edward T. Linethal made these observations in "Sacred Ground; America and Its Battlefields":

"These battlefields (Pearl Harbor) function in diverse ways. On the one hand, they are ceremonial centers where various forms of veneration reflect the belief that the contemporary power and relevance of the ‘lessons’ of the battle are crucial for the continued life of the nation. Furthermore, many people believe that the patriotic inspiration to be extracted from these sacred places depends not only on a proper ceremony but on a memorialized, preserved, restored and purified environment.

"On the other hand, these battlefields are civil spaces where Americans of various ideological persuasions come, not always reverently, to compete for the ownership of powerful national stories and to argue about the nature of heroism, the meaning of war, the efficacy of martial sacrifice, and the significance of preserving the patriotic landscape of the nation."

That 50th anniversary was honored by a presidential visit from George H.W. Bush. His speech to the thousands of Pearl Harbor survivors and their families was memorable and purposeful. It was the first time a president addressed the issue of reconciliation with our former enemies. His words rang out over the hushed crowd gathered at Kilo Pier:

"I wondered how I’d feel being with you, the veterans of Pearl Harbor — the survivors — on this very special day. And I wondered if I would feel that intense hatred that all of us felt for the enemy 50 years ago. As I thought back to that day of infamy and the loss of friends, I wondered: What will my reaction be when I go back to Pearl Harbor?

"Well, let me tell you how I feel. I have no rancor in my heart toward Germany or Japan — none at all. And I hope, in spite of the loss, that you have none in yours. This is no time for recrimination.

"World War II is over. It is history. We won. We crushed totalitarianism — and when that was done, we helped our enemies give birth to democracies. We made our enemies our friends. …"

The president’s words paved the way for the Park Service to use his message to broaden the interpretation of the site. It opened new opportunities in the theme of "preserving the memory."

Since then, major ceremonies of reconciliation have taken place between American and Japanese veterans at symposiums and prayer services. A tea ceremony hosted by the tea master of Japan has taken place on the memorial. The gift of the Sadako crane was a significant contribution to reconciliation. Educational workshops now included American and Japanese teachers. In 2010 the new visitor center and museum was completed with major exhibits whose narratives included both American and Japanese perspectives and memory. Today thousands of Hawaii’s school children participate in our educational programs. For many young students it is their first visit to the USS Arizona Memorial.

The presidential proclamation on Dec. 5, 2008, by President George W. Bush expanded the mission of preserving the memory of Pearl Harbor to the all-encompassing story of the Pacific War. Key to the proclamation were these words:

"WHEREAS the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument will promote understanding of related resources, encourage continuing research, present interpretive opportunities and programs for visitors to better understand and honor the sacrifices borne by the Greatest Generation, and tell the story from Pearl Harbor to Peace."

The challenges of preserving that memory are daunting. But plans and programs are underway to continue the mission of preserving America’s memory of the Pacific War and its related sites. In that challenge, we are reminded of those responsibilities in words of the late Michael Slackman:

"Today the USS Arizona stands as a reminder of the events of that Sunday morning. It has different meanings for those that visit here. But to all them, it speaks silently and eloquently of the distance yet to be traveled before the world lives in peace."