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At long last, 66 years to the day after it was sunk by Japanese torpedoes, the USS Oklahoma has a lasting memorial at Pearl Harbor. On Friday, December 7, more than a dozen survivors of the sneak attack and the families of some of the 429 who died, attended ceremonies at Ford Island, and officially dedicated the new USS Oklahoma Memorial, on a site just about 150 yards from where the “Okie” was moored on December 7, 1941.
On a day that began with a moving tribute to all who served, and those who died, at Pearl Harbor on the day the Japanese struck, the USS Oklahoma was honored with the unveiling of a marble and granite monument that commemorates the battleship that suffered the second-largest loss of life in the Japanese attack. Dignitaries from the states of Oklahoma and Hawaii, the U.S. Navy, the National Park Service, members of the USS Oklahoma Memorial Executive Committee, survivors and family members of the Oklahoma’s crew attended the nearly 2-hour ceremony.
Sun and showers alternated throughout the memorial service and dedication, forcing those gathered under tents to protect them from the wind and rain. However, for those who had worked so long and hard to secure the site and create the memorial, it was a glorious day.
The ceremony began with a welcome from Rear Admiral Doug McClain, a former student at Putnam City High School in Oklahoma City, who is now Director of Global Operations for the U.S. Strategic Command. Following a traditional Hawaiian blessing and the invocation, the colors were presented by the Navy Junior ROTC from Claremore, Oklahoma and the Marine Junior ROTC cadets from U.S. Grant High School in Oklahoma City. The U.S. Marine Corps Band played the National Anthem.
(above: Governor Brad Henry speaks at the USS Oklahoma Memorial Dedication ceremony at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii)
Then, architect Don Beck discussed the design of the memorial, and its 429 marble posts, each of which contain the name of one of those who died aboard the mighty battleship.
Honored speakers included (in order of speaking) Linda Lingle, Governor of Hawaii; Admiral Timothy Keating, U.S. Pacific Command; Mary Fallin, U.S. Representative from Oklahoma; Tom Cole, U.S. Representative from Oklahoma; Neil Abercrombie, U.S. Representative from Hawaii; Brad Henry, Governor of Oklahoma; and Lyle Laverty, Assistant Secretary of the Interior. Oklahoma State Senator Jim Reynolds introduced USS Oklahoma survivor Ed Vezey and Lisa Ridge, granddaughter of USS Oklahoma Petty Officer Paul Nash, for comments.
(above: USS Oklahoma survivor Ed Vezey of Center, Colorado was among the speakers at the dedication ceremony.)
Signalman 1st Class Paul Goodyear, a USS Oklahoma survivor who was one of the driving forces behind the memorial, then raised the American flag above the site. The ceremony closed with a 21-gun salute, taps and the playing of Amazing Grace on a lone bagpipe.
Among the Oklahomans at the service, we saw Governor Brad Henry and First Lady Kim Henry; Treasurer Scott Meacham; U.S. Representatives Tom Cole and Mary Fallin; Speaker of the House Lance Cargill; State Representative Gary Banz; State Senator Jim Reynolds; State Representative Ryan Kiesel; and State Representative Guy Liebmann.
Also, former State Representatives Debbie Blackburn and Greg Piatt; Dr. Bob Blackburn, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Historical Society; the members of the USS Oklahoma Memorial Executive Committee, including co-chairs Tucker McHugh and Admiral Greg Slavonic; memorial architect Don Beck; Blake Wade, Jeannie Edney, and Lou Kerr from the Oklahoma Centennial Commission; the survivors and their families.
(above (l-r): Kevin King and State Senator Jim Reynolds do a “rubbing” on one of the posts at the USS Oklahoma Memorial.
The USS Oklahoma was raised in 1943, made sea-worthy and sold for scrap. In May, 1947, she sank in a storm, about 540 miles out of Hawaii, while being towed to San Francisco. She rests there now, and almost 400 of her crew members, most unidentified, are entombed at the Punchbowl National Cemetery in Honolulu.
Jeff Phister, co-author of “Battleship Oklahoma (BB-37)” writes:
Built to keep the peace, not once in her twenty-five years of service were her massive 14-inch guns fired in belligerence. She was a great ship – with a proud crew. Neither will be forgotten.
Ah hui ho (until next time), Dick Pryor
Aloha!
In the shadow of the battleship USS Missouri, moored at Pearl Harbor, more than 8,000 Oklahoma school students were part of an interactive web cast featuring two survivors of the USS Oklahoma on Thursday, December 6. Located less than 100 yards from the site of the new USS Oklahoma Memorial on Ford Island, survivors Paul Goodyear and George Brown answered questions from students at several Oklahoma schools.
A total of 124 schools signed up to watch the exclusive web cast. In addition to Goodyear and Brown, students heard from Dr. Bob Blackburn, the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Historical Society; Tucker McHugh, co-chair of the USS Oklahoma Memorial Executive Committee; Don Beck, the architect who designed the memorial; and Oklahoma State Senator Jim Reynolds, who was one of the leaders of the effort to place a memorial to the USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor.
(above: USS Oklahoma survivor Paul Goodyear answers questions from Oklahoma students during the interactive web cast, live, from Ford Island, Pearl Harbor. The USS Missouri is in the background. It is now moored where the USS Oklahoma was located during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Paul Goodyear swam to safety just a few yards from the site of the web cast.)
Goodyear and Brown told students that the memorial is important to them because of the tribute it will pay to the 429 sailors and Marines who perished in the Japanese attack. The Oklahoma was one of nine battleships that suffered damage or were sunk. The USS Oklahoma, the USS Arizona, and the USS Utah were the only ships that were never returned to service.
The Oklahoma has been the only battleship without a memorial at Pearl Harbor, but that will change at 4:00 p.m. (Oklahoma time) on Friday, when the USS Oklahoma Memorial is officially dedicated. About 15 survivors and 200 family members of USS Oklahoma crew are expected for the ceremony. Governor Brad Henry, U.S. Representatives Mary Fallin and Tom Cole and U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii will be among the honored speakers. The Navy Junior ROTC from Claremore High School and Marine Junior ROTC Cadets from U.S. Grant High School in Oklahoma City will present the colors.
Join us for the web cast of the USS Oklahoma Memorial dedication from Ford Island at 4:00 p.m. (Oklahoma time) on Friday. The ceremony will be archived on the Oklahoma World War II Stories web site on Friday night, December 7.
Ah hui ho! (until next time)
Dick Pryor
Aloha!
World War II veterans, including more than a dozen survivors of the Japanese assault on the USS Oklahoma, have arrived in Honolulu for the 66th anniversary remembrance of the Pearl Harbor sneak attack and the dedication of the new USS Oklahoma Memorial.
The survivors and the first members of the Oklahoma contingent to arrive in Honolulu have been getting acquainted at the downtown Honolulu headquarters hotel and visiting some of the sites around Pearl Harbor. On Tuesday, a few of the Oklahoma survivors went to the Punchbowl, the national cemetery which is the site where the remains of 381 victims of the Japanese attack are buried in 46 graves.
(above: USS Oklahoma survivor George Smith, the youngest crew member aboard the battleship, talks about his experiences during World War II.)
Wednesday, the survivors, their family members, State Representative Gary Banz and his wife Linda, and members of the Claremore and Oklahoma City U.S. Grant Junior ROTC program took a late afternoon cruise around Ford Island, located in the center of Pearl Harbor. Captain Taylor Skardon, Commander of the Naval Station Pearl Harbor served as tour guide, providing a vivid commentary on the history of Pearl Harbor.
(above: Captain Taylor Skarden, Commander of Pearl Harbor Naval Station, hosted a tour of Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial.)
(below: Members of the Navy Junior ROTC from Claremore, Oklahoma enjoy the Pearl Harbor cruise. )
On Thursday at 2:00 p.m. (Oklahoma time) we will present a 45-minute video conference live on the Oklahoma World War II Stories website. The video conference will be available worldwide, and more than 8,000 Oklahoma school students from 77 schools have signed up to participate. They will have the opportunity to hear from Director of the Oklahoma History Center Bob Blackburn, State Senator Jim Reynolds, co-chairman of the USS Oklahoma Memorial Committee Tucker McHugh and memorial Beck, in addition to being able to ask questions of two USS Oklahoma survivors. Due to the tremendous interest, the video conference has been extended to allow additional questions for the veterans from students. Thursday night at 8:00 (Oklahoma time) OETA will present its Oklahoma World War II Stories documentary, produced by Boots Kennedye and me. The hour-long documentary will also be available worldwide on the OETA website, www.oeta.tv.
We will bring the dedication ceremony of the USS Oklahoma Memorial home to Oklahoma on Friday, starting at 4:00 p.m. (Oklahoma time) on the Oklahoma World War II Stories website. We invite you to watch as the Okie and its crew receive their long-awaited recognition with a permanent memorial on Ford Island, only a couple hundred yards from the location of the USS Oklahoma when it was hit by Japanese torpedoes.
The weather has been rainy here and temperatures cooler than expected. Storms raced across Oahu last night, knocking out power to many residents and businesses and closing the USS Arizona Memorial until afternoon. Weather should improve tomorrow for the video conference, to be held near the USS Oklahoma Memorial site, a short distance from the permanent mooring of the USS Missouri, the battleship on which the Japanese officially surrendered to end World War II. Join us for the video conference on Thursday, and check back for more updates from Pearl Harbor.
Ah hui ho (until next time), Dick Pryor
(The “Okie” survivors who have made the journey include Paul Goodyear, Casa Grande, Arizona; George Smith, Olympia, Washington; Don Lester, San Diego, California; Harold Johnson; Michael Stecz, Castro Valley, California; Garland Eslick, Amarillo, Texas; James Bounds, San Diego, California; Norm Roberts, Morro Bay, California; Ed Vezey, Center, Colorado; Dick Artley, Lewiston, Idaho; Ray Richmond, San Diego, California; Bill Hendley, Wilmington, North Carolina; and Louis Egnatovich, Lake City, Florida. George Brown of Honolulu had a much shorter trip. Willie Roesler of Canyon Lake, Texas is also in Hawaii to share the activities with his surviving shipmates. Roesler was a crew member of the Oklahoma before the December 7, 1941 attack and had shipped out to Midway Island aboard the USS Medusa in February, 1941.)
USS Oklahoma Memorial Dedication Coverage Begins
December 2ndOETA and NewsOK.com will bring coverage of the dedication of the new USS Oklahoma Memorial at Pearl Harbor home to Oklahoma this week. Check this website often for updates on the Oklahoma World War II Stories blog, and be sure to watch for a live video conference from Pearl Harbor at 2:00 p.m. (CST) on Thursday, December 6, followed by the debut of the hour-long, HD documentary, Oklahoma World War II Stories on Thursday, December 6 at 8:00 p.m. (CST). You can watch the documentary on OETA statewide, or worldwide on the OETA website, www.oeta.tv. On Friday, December 7, we will have coverage of the USS Oklahoma Memorial dedication ceremonies, beginning at 8:00 p.m. (CST) on the Oklahoma World War II Stories website. 
(above) Dick Pryor with USS Oklahoma survivor Paul Goodyear, and an artist’s rendition of the new USS Oklahoma Memorial, to be dedicated on December 7, 2007 at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.