Perch Base
USS Arizona Memorial
Perch Base USSVI Life Member and Webmaster Dan Marks visited the new USS Arizona (BB-39) Memorial Gardens at the Salt River Fields. The
memorial was opened with a dedication ceremony on Friday, Feb. 21, 2020. The location includes a "relic building" which displays
the remnants of the first memorial boathouse structure that was originally placed atop the USS Arizona superstructure after World War II
in 1950. In 1956, the decking was deemed unsafe and the structure was removed, to be ultimately replaced by the USS Arizona
Memorial on Memorial Day in 1962 that many of us have visited since.
The Salt River Fields Memorial includes 1,512 columns, one for every Sailor & Marine aboard the USS Arizona during the attack, that are arranged to
include the actual dimensions of the perimeter of the USS Arizona. 1,177 of the columns are taller and illuminated to represent
those who were lost.
Click on the thumbnails for a larger picture.
The plaque is a replica of the original plaque which reads:
DEDICATED
TO THE ETERNAL MEMORY
OF OUR GALLANT SHIPMATES
IN THE USS ARIZONA
WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN ACTION
7 DECEMBER 1941
"FROM TODAY ON, THE USS ARIZONA
WILL AGAIN FLY OUR COUNTRY'S FLAG
JUST AS PROUDLY AS SHE DID ON THE
MORNING OF 7 DECEMBER 1941
I AM SURE THE ARIZONA'S CREW WILL
KNOW AND APPRECIATE WHAT WE ARE
DOING"
ADMIRAL A W RADFORD USN
7 MARCH 1950
MAY GOD MAKE HIS FACE
TO SHINE UPON THEM
AND GRANT THEM PEACE
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