Oklahoma WWII

 

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

- Thursday, December 6th, 2007 at 9:25 pm in The War, OETA, Oklahoma News Report, USS Oklahoma, Hawaii, Navy, World War II, Pearl Harbor, South Pacific, The Oklahoman. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.