length. During the attack on Pearl Harbor, it was the most heavily damaged of all the .
ships. The damage was too serious to salvage. She remains where she sank to this day. .
Of the 2,403 people that died at Pearl Harbor, about 1,102 men died upon the Arizona .
alone. Many of these men were "buried alive" in the ship and unable to get out. This is a .
memorial as well as a gravesite to many of these men.
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Prior to visiting the Arizona, one is subjected to a short film about Pearl Harbor .
and a brief introduction to the USS Arizona. The building of the memorial is a white .
concrete-steel structure. It resembles a crescent that sits above the Arizona, over looking .
it in the water. At the end of the crescent is a marble wall with all 1,102 names written on .
it, all casualties from the Arizona. On that wall it reads "To the memory of the gallant .
men here entombed and their shipmates who gave their lives in action on December .
7,1941 on the USS Arizona." There are also inscriptions that line the surrounding walls. .
From the top of the Arizona sprouts an American flag. Oil slick still comes up off the .
water from the ruptured bunkers. This posses an environmental impact for a potential .
large oil spill if the ship was ever disturbed or altered abruptly. It is traditional for many .
people who visit the memorial each year to drop lays in the water. .
Pear Harbor is still a running military base. Present day facilities at Pearl Harbor .
include a naval shipyard, supply center, and submarine base. The naval shipyard has two .
marine railways, auxiliary floating dry-docks, two marine railways, and industrial shops. .
It also has an Air Force Base, naval reservation, and housing. More then a million people .
visit the USS Arizona Memorial each year. . There is also a Remembrance Exhibit at the .
visitor center, which also serves as a gift shop. The Remembrance Exhibit at the .
Memorial visitor center also honors the fallen of the other ships, airfields, and barracks .
