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70 years after Pearl Harbor, USS Arizona still weeps

16 Comments

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May they rest in peace.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Getting aerial bombing is not nice when you are the guy who is getting raided is it?

-6 ( +0 / -6 )

Neo--I think the Japanese know that better than anyone, don't you?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Thank you, JapanToday, for sharing this interesting and moving story.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I went there in '98 and spent the afternoon talking to the Vets that were there. I also met some Japanese Sailors from WWII that were visiting that day.

It was fascinating talking to them and watching them talk to each other.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

I spent a brief period (three months) TDY at the base's Water Transportation Department (WTD) while waiting for my ship to return from deployment (circa 1979). Back then the WTD was still responsible for the Memorial maintenance and tours (the National Park Service has taken over those responsibilities now.) One of my jobs was to row out to the memorial in a fiberglass dinghy at low tide with another sailor and scrape barnacles off the part of the memorial that entered the harbor waters. Low tide on that day was near dusk, and the dinghy kept bumping against the portion of Arizona's superstructure that had been cut away below the surface. Eerie, to say the least, as it felt like someone was pushing against the dinghy while we worked. We were the ones doing the pushing, though. Everytime we went to scrape a barnacle, we pushed the dinghy against the Arizona's hull. To this day I remember thinking about all the souls that were trapped just below our dinghy.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The most moving experience of my life was to spend time going around Iwo Jima when I went there for training in the Navy. Second on the list would have to be visiting the USS Arizona Memorial. I'll never forget a moment of either experience.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

They are going to have and do something with the USS Arizona. Being in shallow salt water has to be destroying the hull. I read somewhere there were some dry compartments, are they still dry and does the navy or park service have a plan to stabilize the hull?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

I pray we no more wars!!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Neo--I think the Japanese know that better than anyone, don't you?

I'm not too sure because most Japanese casualties were civilians who hanged out in their homes at night.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Neo--I think the Japanese know that better than anyone, don't you?

I'm not too sure because most Japanese casualties were civilians who hanged out in their homes at night. It's hard to reconcile the suffering of civilians with people who are expected to kill others with the logic of my first post.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Neo--I think the Japanese know that better than anyone, don't you?

I fail to see why the Japanese experience is relevant considering this article is about the ordeal of American servicemen.

I'm not too sure because most Japanese casualties were civilians who hanged out in their homes at night. It's hard to reconcile the suffering of civilians with people who are expected to kill others with the logic of my first post. BTW the number of US cities that were indiscriminately fire bombed or nuked is zero which I find irrelevant but it might interest you.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

@Yuri Otani:

They are going to have and do something with the USS Arizona. Being in shallow salt water has to be destroying the hull. I read somewhere there were some dry compartments, are they still dry and does the navy or park service have a plan to stabilize the hull?

The USS Arizona is maintained by Navy divers, for one thing. The U.S. is not allowing it to just sit there and deteriorate. Don't worry, it will be there as a memorial for those who lost their lives that day for a long, long time to come.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Just wondering if the #3 turret is still dry? I read that unexploded ordinance and powder were removed. Understand noxious gasses were given off during this process. I have seen pictures of the ship during the 50's. There was a deck on it during the 50's, what happened? Oh I would contribute to a fund to persevere the ship. Why? It is a lesson to all of us about the wages of complacency.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Oh forgot to add treachery and the results of our actions. The sailors on the Arizona were doing their duty when the explosion destroyed the ship. They did not leave their battle stations. They are a credit to themselves and the US Navy.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

i'm nor american neither japanese. but reading this give me chill on my back.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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