Above you can browse through images taken at the memorial from the travel website http://gohawaii.about.com/od/oahuphotos/ig/arizona_memorial_photos/.
The USS Arizona Memorial (Alfred Preis, 1962) is a dedication to those who died on December 7, 1941 from the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is an important site for World War II veterans, especially survivors of the attack, because of the great degree to which Pearl Harbor is a part of our country’s history. This connection to the site felt by the survivors is similar to the emotional reaction that Vietnam War veterans have when they visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. In fact, veterans play a large role at the USS Arizona Memorial, not just as visitors but as living aspects of the memorial itself. What makes the USS Arizona Memorial unique is that veterans volunteer to tell their personal experiences from the attack, which gives visitors a greater understanding of the pain and anguish from that day.[1] Compared to a typical beach vacation when travelling to Hawai’i, visiting the USS Arizona Memorial is more than just a tourist attraction. Volunteers also include Japanese Americans who were placed in internment camps.[2] Each volunteer can share his or her own story, altering a visitor’s knowledge about the Pearl Harbor attacks and adding to assortment of narratives that are a part of that event in history. The different perspectives all work together to create a constantly shifting understanding of American history, which adds to this memorial’s level of hybridity. The veterans also demonstrate how people can forgive and move on from war attacks. Some of the U.S. veterans who survived the attacks actually became friends with the Japanese veterans later on.[3] This adds another dimension of personal narrative to the Pearl Harbor attack. This contrasts greatly with the resentment that the Chinese feel towards the Japanese because of the attack at Nanjing demonstrated by the Nanjing Massacre Memorial. The Nanjing Memorial acts as more of a lesson about the destruction of war rather than a space for healing and moving on like the USS Arizona Memorial.
The USS Arizona Memorial is placed on the water directly over the sunken ship, left in its watery grave. The only way to get to the memorial itself is by shuttle boat, which means visitors are already mentally preparing themselves before they even get to the site. The visitors must embark on a journey just to get to the memorial site. This transportation to the memorial reflects the visitor’s mental transportation back in time when visiting the site. There is a list of names of the people who died on the day of the attack, ordered in the traditional manner of military ranking. The memorial structure is all white with large openings on the sides and roof, and the roof curves upwards at either end, creating an uplifting feeling.
