That’s right, Phase I is complete and was opened to the public on February 17, 2010. Wasting no time, the second phase began the very same day. The grand opening for the the new Museum and Visitor Center is scheduled for December 7, 2010.
Performed by Kahu Kamaki Kanahele and Kahu Kalena Hew Len, a traditional Hawaiian blessing was held on February 16, 2010.
Below is a slide show with some images of the blessing.
Second phase should be completed by December 7, 2010, in time for the grand opening
The National Park Service press release states the Navy shuttle boats will not run visitors to the USS Arizona Memorial January 11-15, 2010 and February 1-5, 2010 due to ongoing Visitor Center construction. Specifically, the boat docks will be moved approximately 50 feet toward the harbor to allow for better egress once visitors have completed their tour. The official press release is here.
The National Park Service and the Arizona Memorial Museum Association apologize for any inconvenience this phase of the construction is causing.
Pearl Harbor Survivor Lee Soucy, a friend to the Arizona Memorial Museum Association, passed away at the age of 90 at the Prairie House Living Center in his home town of Plainview, Texas.
With a liberal dose of humor, the former pharmicist’s mate used his experiences and first hand knowledge to teach others about his ship, the USS Utah, and the reality of December 7, 1941.
Mr. Soucy traveled to Hawaii in 2006 to participate in the Pearl Harbor 65th Anniversary Symposium and meet with other Pearl Harbor supporters, like long time AMMA member Tom Sakiyama, who is pictured with him at right.
“Somewhere I read that it is more important that a story be interesting than it be true. Well, I think history especially should be true…I’m going to make it interesting no matter how many true stories I have to make up,” Mr. Soucy joked on the Sailors of the Pacific Fleet panel at AMMA’s 65th Anniversary Symposium.
Everyday that I walked by the construction zone I would peek through the fence just to see how far the new Visitor Center was coming along, but you can only see so much through a hole in the fence. Last week Thursday, I had a chance to tag along on a VIP tour of the new Visitor Center, so I took the opportunity.
The Steversons meet Pearl Harbor Survivors Al Rodrigues, left, and Sterling Cale.
Most days at the USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center, guests can meet Pearl Harbor Survivors, who volunteer their time to greet people from all over the world. The Survivors’ mission is to interest more people in the history of Pearl Harbor and to honor the memory of comrades killed on December 7, 1941.
Denise Steverson, above with son Jared, from Pleasant View, Tennessee, met Survivors Al Rodrigues and Sterling Cale on a recent visit with Pleasant View Christian School. Ms. Steverson wrote an email to the Survivors from Tennessee with the photo above attached. “Mr. Cale and Mr. Rodrigues, we thought you might get a kick out of seeing this picture. We were at Pearl Harbor in May of 2008 as chaperone’s with my son’s senior class trip. I just wanted to thank you for serving our country so well and for graciously donating your time to the public. You helped us make a memory we will never forget!”
The Valor in the Pacific National Monument, which includes the USS Arizona Memorial, is not just about the past; it is not just about honoring the memory of those that fought and died at Pearl Harbor. It is about making new memories for those that visit so that the lessons of courage, humility, and service will endure.
The USS Arizona after the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.
The article in the New York Times deals with the aftermath of the September 11, attacks. September 12, 2001 was a lot like what December 8, 1941 must have been like. In Hawaii, people were terrified that the Japanese would return to invade the island. Soldiers patrolled the beaches, scanned the skies, and shot at anything that moved. Civilians were moved off the island as the military took control, announcing martial law late on December 7.
At Pearl Harbor, the shock of the Pacific Fleet laying on the harbor floor was quickly replaced by an unstoppable drive to rebuild. Salvage operations took precedence and the miracles performed by the shipyard are still the stuff of legend. Legions of young men and women volunteered to fight, and win, a war many never saw coming.
Gunboats patrolled New York harbor after 9/11. Machine guns, closed airports, and smoke still rising from the wreckage of the World Trade Center marked the low point of a proud city. But as the article contends, what many feared would happen to the city, that it would become an armed camp empty of normal human interaction, never came to pass.
As a New Yorker dentist said, “There’s a tremendous drive of human beings to make the most of life,” Dr. Weiss said. “We’re not hermits. We rise up and move on.”
Watts Constructors, the contractor chosen to build the new Pearl Harbor Memorial Museum & Visitor Center, has posted a series of time-lapse photos of the new Visitor Center’s construction on their website.
While the official dedication of the Visitor Center won’t be until December 7, 2010 with the opening of the museum exhibits, the photos provide an excellent vantage point of the progress on the various buildings scheduled for completion in mid-January: the new Education building, far right; the main entrance, ticketing, audio tour desk and other elements of the Aloha Court area, center; and the new AMMA bookstore and NPS administration buildings, left.
Thank you to Watts for the great photos and the time-lapse views.
As the article states, the government paying for veterans’ education could have as much of a transformative effect on America now and in the future as it did 60 years ago. It could be argued that the tremendous explosion of the US economy in the 1950s and 1960s had as much to do with the opportunities grasped by those with higher educations than with the US emerging relatively unscathed in an otherwise industrially flattened post-war world.
The new GI Bill is a tremendous opportunity for US veterans to educate not only themselves, but the rest of the world on just how smart and productive Americans can be. It’s the best chance for the valued veterans who fight our wars, and for the future of the country.
John Finn with an admirer at the 2002 Pearl Harbor Day Commemoration at the USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center. Photo by Ray Sandla.
This past Sunday marked the birthday of John Finn, the former Kaneohe Marine who was WWII’s first Medal of Honor recipient. On the morning of December 7, 1941, Mr. Finn manned a machine gun on a Kaneohe tarmac and fired at attacking Japanese planes until his shrapnel and strafing wounds forced him to stop.
I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Finn in 2002 at the December 7 ceremonies held at the USS Arizona Memorial. I found him to be feisty, energetic, compassionate, and sharp as a tack in his 93rd year. In his keynote address, the last surviving Medal of Honor recipient told the somewhat stunned crowd how the attack had surprised him consummating his new marriage. Perhaps it is this fact that helps explain his angry and tenacious counterattack. Whatever the reasons, Mr. Finn’s relentless defense of his base and of his comrades earned him a place in Pearl Harbor legend. Happy 100th Mr. Finn.
A few blog entries ago, I cited an LA Times opinion piece on the US’s fading influence in the Pacific region. Yesterday, the USS Hawaii pulled into Pearl Harbor with a mission to, at least militarily, re-establish that influence. According to William Cole of the Honolulu Advertiser, the “U.S. Navy is increasing its submarine force in the Pacific as a number of Pacific Rim nations do the same.”
Recognition that the Pacific is “an extraordinarily vital region to U.S. interests,” (Brad Glosserman, executive director of the Pacific Forum Center for Strategic and International Studies) is a good start and the USS Hawaii and her sister subs destined for Hawaii and the Pacific provide an increasingly vital security presence. The next step will be a realization that diplomatic relations, economic cooperation, and an understanding of complex shared regional interests can provide not just security, but democratic and humanitarian benefits that honor the sacrifices of the generation that fought the Pacific War and advance their legacy.
Welcome to the new Pearl Harbor blog. Please feel free to comment on any post, we would like to hear from people all over the world with an interest in Pearl Harbor or WWII in the Pacific.
Thank you for visiting.
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