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Posted on 02/29/2004 4:51:26 AM PST by snippy_about_it
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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 New home for 'Mighty Mo' March 7 1999 HONOLULU -- The USS Arizona -- sitting solitary, silent and hallowed on Battleship Row for almost 60 years -- is not alone anymore.  The battered ship, resting on the bottom of Pearl Harbor, has become a national symbol, the sunken memorial to the Americans who died during the Japanese attack on Oahu and Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. It is the most sacred U.S. Navy monument on Earth, the final grave for the 1,177 sailors and Marines who perished aboard during the attack.  Now, anchored near the Arizona is the USS Missouri, the second most-famous battleship of World War II, official designation BB-63. Like the Arizona, the Missouri sits next to a pier at Ford Island in the middle of Pearl Harbor. For the "Mighty Mo" -- the ship's famous nickname -- a berth in Pearl Harbor marks the end of an illustrious career that spanned more than a half-century and service in three wars.  Today, the Missouri's huge 16-inch guns are silent, pointing symbolically toward the Arizona. It is poetic that these two U.S. warships should end up next to each other. The Arizona was sunk at the beginning of the U.S.-Japanese conflict, and it was aboard the Missouri that the Japanese signed the formal surrender ending World War II four years later.  On Jan. 29, in ceremonies aboard ship, the Missouri was officially opened to the public as a floating museum -- 55 years to the day after it was launched. Along with the Arizona and the other Navy relic of the war anchored at Pearl Harbor -- the submarine Bowfin -- the Missouri is fated to become part of one of the major tourist attractions in Hawaii.  It was a long voyage from Brooklyn, where the Missouri was built, to Pearl Harbor, half an Earth away. The Mighty Mo was the last battleship launched by the United States, entering service in 1944. It was christened by Margaret Truman, the daughter of the newly elected vice president, Harry Truman, a former U.S. senator from Missouri. After going through the Panama Canal to the Pacific, it was involved in the invasions of Okinawa and Iwo Jima and attacks on the Japanese homeland.  On Sept. 2, 1945, a month after the U.S. atomic attacks at Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the Japanese formally surrendered aboard the Missouri. The site of that ceremony -- now called the "Surrender Deck" -- is marked by permanent plaques and is a major stop on public tours of the ship. (An elevator has been installed to allow wheelchair access to the Surrender Deck and other areas of the ship.)  The end of World War II also saw the end of the "Battleship Age" and the beginning of the "Carrier Age," meaning the demise of most of the Navy's battleships. Most were scrapped, a few were mothballed, some were used as targets for U.S. atomic tests. Among those saved -- just in case of future need -- were the Missouri and its sister ships -- the New Jersey, the Iowa and the Wisconsin. By 1950, the Missouri was the only U.S. battleship on active duty, and in September of that year was involved in the invasion of Inchon at the beginning of the Korean War. Later, the other three Iowa-class ships were also called back for the war.  In 1955, the Missouri was decommissioned and put into the mothball fleet at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton, Wash. While there, it was visited by as many as 180,000 tourists a year. There it sat until 1986, when the Navy (and President Ronald Reagan) decided to create a 600-ship navy and recommissioned the Missouri and several other battleships. The recommissioning ceremonies took place in San Francisco on May 10, 1986. San Francisco desperately wanted the Missouri home-ported at Hunters Point, but in the end, the ship ended up at Long Beach. In 1990, after Iraq invaded Kuwait, the Missouri -- along with the Wisconsin -- was sent to the Persian Gulf. Near the beginning of the hostilities -- Jan. 17, 1991 -- the Missouri fired Tomahawk cruise missiles at Iraqi targets, and in February, fired its 16-inch guns for the first time since Korea.  The Mighty Mo fired its weapons in anger for the last time at targets in Ra's al Khafji, Saudi Arabia, occupied by the Iraqis. The ship fired 209 rounds from its 16-inch guns, which are capable of sending a 2,000-pound shell 23 miles. The Missouri was decommissioned again in 1992. A number of U.S. cities wanted to claim the battleship, but in the end, the Navy donated it to the USS Missouri Memorial Association in Honolulu in 1998. There has been some resistance to putting the Missouri near the Arizona, with some veterans and Navy personnel feeling that the Arizona, as a sacred site, should not share honors on Battleship Row with another ship, no matter how famous. (The name "Battleship Row" came about because the Navy's World War II Pacific-based battleships were normally lined up in rows along Ford Island -- where the Japanese found them tightly packed during the attack.)  The Missouri sits about 300 yards from the Arizona. The Navy has given permission for the ship to remain there for three years, when it will be moved to another spot farther away, but still next to Ford Island. The official Navy position is more congenial, noting that the Missouri, in conjunction with the Bowfin and the Arizona, is part of a rich historical experience. For their part, Missouri supporters are hoping that in the end, given what is expected to be intense public interest, the Navy will leave the Missouri where it is.  "Look at the big guns," Tom Pinet, the Missouri's tour program manager, said. "The way they point, they're symbolically protecting the Arizona. The last thing we want in the world is to turn this into Disneyland. We all respect the Arizona." The U.S. Park Service, which is in charge of the Arizona Memorial, is upbeat about the Missouri's arrival. In a news release issued before the opening ceremonies, the Park Service noted that "each of the three (ships) are coming together to service a single critical purpose -- to sustain the rich history of this very special place -- the living history of Pearl Harbor." Copyright © 2004, Knight-Ridder/Tribune (KRT)      |
LOL! I don't either. :-)
Honored guests, flag and general officers, our State and City officials, friends, veterans, and most importantly, the Pearl Harbor survivors that are here with us today...
It truly is an honor to stand before you on this solemn and important occasion to remember our dead, to honor our veterans of the Pacific campaign, and to take stock of our future as we reflect upon the infamous tragedy of December 7, 1941.
For 60 years, the attack on Pearl Harbor has been central to our concept of a national tragedy and our national conviction. In many ways it touched nearly everyone in the country. On USS ARIZONA, hundreds were killed in barely more than an instant. All told, hundreds more would die soon after. And the individual stories of loss were almost greater than anyone could imagine in 20th Century America.
For example, there were 36 sets of brothers assigned to the USS ARIZONA alone. Of those 75 men, 61 perished in the attack and only a single set survived.
I visit the ARIZONA frequently. When you step onto the Memorial today, and walk amidst the dappled pattern of shadows and sunlight, where the only sounds are whispered words and the snapping of our flag above, the unmistakable reality of loss is captured in our memory. It is impossible to not feel the impact of those names carved in the cold stone of the memorial shrine room.
And nothing is more striking to me personally than the new names you find to the lower left of the memorial's wall. Many of the ARIZONA survivors have returned to be entombed with their shipmates - reunited at last in the inevitable finality of death. Despite the separation of decades, it is there that they find their final resting place. It is an undying testament to esprit de corps and to the unbreakable bonds that unite all those who served on ARIZONA or were in Pearl Harbor that tragic day.
The dreadful events of that long ago December morning united this Nation in a common goal. In one stroke, the attack silenced the debate between isolation and engagement and launched us wholeheartedly into the war with the Axis powers and Japan. But such was the confidence in the strength of purpose of this American generation that victory was a foregone conclusion.
And so it is that in some form or fashion we have gathered at hallowed sites like INTREPID, a truly heroic stalwart of the Pacific Fleet herself, for each of the last 60 years to reflect on the events of that one day - events that would spark the conflict that would shape a generation. Young Americans, from all walks of life, born in the small towns and rural farms of our Nation, or raised in cities like this one, thrust together in the flashpoint that was Pearl Harbor.
On the waters of the Pacific, in the air, under the sea, on untold islands and, eventually, across the globe, that generation signed up and moved out - they surrendered their lives and committed their futures to a cause greater than any individual. As my mother, a Navy nurse in the Pacific during the war, used to tell me, you saw it everywhere - in fact you never saw a man on the street between the age of 18 to 40 that wasn't in uniform or a woman that wasn't contributing in some fashion.
The result was astounding. For almost sixty years, America has been strong, peaceful, and prosperous because of the sacrifice of a generation of men and women who were willing to fight for their country.
Today, there is a new generation of Americans who live up to the legacy of courage and conviction this great generation has left them. Just a few blocks from here, tragedy has given way to conviction once again. The terrorist attacks on 11 September were more than attacks on American citizens and American property; they were attacks on freedom, on liberty, and on democracy - all that our forefathers and the generations before us, have fought to protect.
And while we could debate forever the similarities and differences between December 7th and September 11th, it is clear to me this new generation has the strength of will and fortitude to persevere. Whether it is the firefighters, police officers and rescue workers who plunged into the burning World Trade Center to rescue others, or the airline passengers who wrestled United Airlines Flight 93 from terrorists over the Pennsylvania countryside, or the Marines, Sailors, Airmen and Soldiers who are bringing this fight to our Taliban and Al Qaeda enemy in Afghanistan at this very moment, Americans today - everyday citizens - are born of the same sense of sacrifice and spirit.
Ronald Reagan liked to call this "the formidable will and moral courage of free men." It has always been this country's most precious asset - at Pearl Harbor or at Ground Zero - and it always will be. It is the legacy our Pearl Harbor and World War II generation has left us, and it is this legacy that inspires the men and women who serve in our armed forces today, in the war on terror.
You should all know I am a great fan of this new and present generation. The Sailors and Marines that make up our Navy today have much in common with those that preceded them. They are unafraid of hard work, unmistakably intelligent, and always engaging. The quality of this generation shows forth each day and they are part of the best Navy I have seen in my 30-year career. Most importantly, they are a cross-section of America, a generation of young men and women who are tested each day in a profession that remains inherently dangerous.
Make no mistake. This generation is equal to the task before them. You have only to walk upon the flight deck of an aircraft carrier that is launching and recovering aircraft every 40 seconds, or stand on the pitching foc'sle of a guided missile cruiser preparing to launch Tomahawk cruise missiles, or sense the energy within an amphibious ship putting Marines ashore, or step into the darkened control room of a submarine as it prepares to submerge. To see them in action is to appreciate their talent and motivation.
This generation gives me great confidence for our future. Because of them, their commitment and the conviction of our national leadership, it is clear to me that we are going to win this fight. And when I say win this fight, I am not talking about just the battle in Afghanistan, but the larger campaign against terror.
To those Pearl Harbor and World War II veterans here this afternoon, we salute you for your service, your sacrifice and your spirit. I'd like you to know that in Pearl Harbor today, the ARIZONA Memorial and the USS MISSOURI rest at moorings that form a monument to the beginning and end of the war in the Pacific.
These two great warships symbolize more than the historical bookends of the war however - more than the just the tragedy and the triumph. To me, they are a symbol of the American fighting spirit, the "formidable will and moral courage" I spoke about earlier. And to those Pearl Harbor veterans in the audience today, thank you for this legacy. You have given this nation a gift not one of us can truly repay. On behalf of all of us in the Pacific Fleet, I would like to ask Marty Steele to accept this rendering of the ARIZONA Memorial and the MISSOURI - the embodiment of your generation's enduring sacrifice and indomitable spirit - for permanent display here in INTREPID.
Gen. Steele...
Thank you all for coming here today on the 60th anniversary of this important occasion in our history. It is one I will remember forever. It is clear to me that Pearl Harbor will forever have a lasting impact on our lives. The events that followed December 7th have long inspired us, and they will be a shining example for this nation for years to come.
For we gather here, and will continue to gather here, in memory and respect for those brave men and women who were lost in little more than an instant to honor the legacy of courage you've left us. And it is in paying our
respects, that we find hope for our future, and a renewed sense of purpose. In the words of Joseph Drake (to the Defenders of New Orleans, 1814):
May God bless each of you and the United States of America.
I can't, just ask Snippy.
Even my dogs can't stand to hear me sing, people are gonna think you're a weirdo. :-)
I'm not weird, I just enjoy laughing hysterically. ;-)
That's a tearjerker.
Thanks Sam for posting both these speeches.
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