Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 Overwhelmingly emotional day at the Visitor's Center and the Memorial today. Complete media circus. By far the most overwhelming moment was in the afternoon the 4 USS Arizona survivors (only 1 missing), their families and some family members of men killed on the ship went out to the memorial to pay our respects and to mourn...without the media or the tourists. Once aboard we accompanied the survivors to the wall with the 1,177 names of their shipmates; they looked, and mourned...then bit by bit we all sort of naturally closed in around them and it became a sea of gentle tears, all consoling each other and remembering. As most of you know, most of the men are still entombed in the ship, right underneath us on the memorial. It was an intensely personal and private scene...it's one thing to be part of a ceremony, but this was so much deeper. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CreepyGuy Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 wow Quote Link to post Share on other sites
breadneck Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 https://www.union.arizona.edu/traditions/scrapbook/history27-2002.php Quote Link to post Share on other sites
adamitri Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 I watched the PBS special on the Arizona the other day on how they explored some of the ship with submersibles and the 3D scans of how she is now. Very interesting. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gordon Shumway Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 I extend my deepest honour and respects to all who witnessed, lived, fought and died at Pearl Harbor Dec. 7 1941. I've always said to family, friends coworkers if/when I plan a trip to Hawaii, the NUMBER ONE thing to do for me will be to go to Pearl Harbor and visit the USS Arizona Memorial. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scooby Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 Andrew, how did you get to be part of this group? Are you related to a survivor? I have a flag that flew from the Arizona memorial on the 50th anniversary of December 7, 1941. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy Posted December 8, 2016 Author Share Posted December 8, 2016 16 hours ago, Scooby said: Andrew, how did you get to be part of this group? Are you related to a survivor? I have a flag that flew from the Arizona memorial on the 50th anniversary of December 7, 1941. Well...that's quite a story actually.... Up until 17 yrs ago I was just like most of the rest of you, one who was impassioned about this but with no family connection. When we first went online I naturally started to dig around and discovered to my amazement that the survivors of the USS Arizona, their families, and the families of the men killed aboard had formed an official Association called the USS Arizona Reunion Association in the 1970's. Used to be you had to have a family connection to be a member, other than honorary. In the early 90's as numbers began to decline they opened a new category of membership: "Friend of the Arizona." That's where I come in. I discovered they had been meeting almost annually in the very city I'd moved to a few years before: Tucson, Arizona. None of them were from there, but they are based there partly because many artifacts of the ship are housed there, including the deck logs and one of the ship's 2 bells (capital ships had 2), and the bell is the "voice of the ship," an almost sacred object. Their meeting pattern was to meet in Hawaii every 5 years for major commemorations (40th, 45th, 50th, 55th etc), and the other 4 in-between years here in Tucson. Well, they invited me to attend a reunion (59th anniversary), and I was in 7th heaven!! Couldn't believe it when they made me a member...and invited me back! I watched from afar next year as they went out to Hawaii for the 60th....but was there every chance I had for the next 4 years in Tucson. In 2005 they stunned me by asking me if I'd be interested in running for office...so they nominated me as their secretary. And elected me. Nobody more surprised at the whole thing than myself. And so I was with them in an official capacity as we went back to PH in 2006 for the 65th...and they've re-elected me every year since. This is my 4th time out here with them, and the most emotional, especially since most of the survivors I've known over the years are now gone, except in memory and in my heart. And photos, lots of photos. And that's how little-ol'-me somehow, miraculously perhaps, became a spokesperson for my historical heroes, the crew of the USS Arizona and their families. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scooby Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 Good for you Andrew, great story and thanks for helping them out in the service you provide. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wxltcol Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 Went to the Memorial when we were in Hawaii for our 25th anniversary (7 years ago already!). Very powerful and sobering. I stood quietly in the back until other people weren't in the room with the names on the wall and rendered a salute (retired USAFR). Very powerful... Tom Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.