“A Date Which Will Live in Infamy” – Remembering Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941

As the World War II generation passes, so do memories. December 7th was a day people flew their flags and delayed doing business in order to remember and honor the event that drew the United States into World War II.

The USS Arizona was in Peral Harbor, along with most of the Pacific Fleet, when it was bombed and sank. It is now a memorial.

The USS Arizona was built in 1915 and at the time was the largest ship in the United States fleet. She went to war in Europe in “the war to end all wars”, World War I. She led the victorious American fleet back to New York in 1919.

The USS Arizona went through extensive updating in the 1930’s and remained a key ship in the United States Pacific fleet.

When Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941 by Japanese planes, the result was devastating. Most of the United States Pacific fleet was destroyed. The next day, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), declared war on Japan.

We should remember Pearl Harbor and those who fought for the America we know today. You can read more about Pearl Harbor at the National Archives and see pictures, maps and more at the United States Navy Archives.

You can Learn more about the USS Arizona and see the magnificent Silver Service used on the ship by visiting the Arizona Capitol Museum at the Arizona State Capitol.

To get a better feel for the shape and size of the ship, go to the USS Arizona memorial gardens at Salt River Fields. The memorial gardens are housed inside the outline of the ship. There you will also find a large remnant of the ship itself on display.

To help honor the dead, the USS Arizona Memorial Gardens at Salt River will be conducting the annual flag breathing ceremony with the flag that flew over the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor in 1941. The ceremony begins at 8am on Dec. 7th.

The pillars representing the outline of the ship, also represent the lives aboard the ship that day in 1941. The short non-illuminated pillars represent survivors of the attack, the taller lit pillars represent those who perished on Dec. 7th.

I encourage you to visit these two memorials to the USS Arizona, the United States Navy Archives website and the National Archives website.