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"To the Memory of the Gallant Men Here Entombed and their shipmates who gave their lives in action on December 7, 1941, on the U.S.S. Arizona" — inscription in marble with the names of Arizona's honored dead.

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The USS Arizona sunk and burning during the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941.
The USS Arizona Memorial, located at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, marks the resting place of 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors killed on the USS Arizona during the Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 by Japanese imperial forces and commemorates the events of that day.
The memorial, dedicated in 1962 is visited by more than one million people annually, spans the sunken hull of the battleship without touching it. Historical information about the attack, boat access to the memorial, and general visitor services are available at the associated USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center, opened in 1980 and operated by the National Park Service. The sunken remains of the battleship were declared a National Historic Landmark on 5 May 1989.

______________Description____________
There are three main parts to the national memorial: entry, assembly room, and shrine. The central assembly room features seven large open windows on either wall and ceiling, to commemorate the date of the attack. The total number of windows is 21. The memorial also contains an opening in the floor overlooking the sunken decks. It is from this opening that visitors come to pay their respects by tossing flowers in honor of the fallen sailors. When visitors are aboard the memorial ground, rangers will ask people to be reverend since there are sailors‘ remains below waterline at the premises.

____________Design__________
The United States Navy specified that the memorial be in the form of a bridge floating above the ship and accommodating 200 people. The 184-foot (56 m) long structure has two peaks at each end connected by a sag in the center of the structure. It represents the height of American pride before the war, the sudden depression of a nation after the attack and the rise of American power to new heights after the war. The architecture of the USS Arizona Memorial is explained, "Wherein the structure sags in the center but stands strong and vigorous at the ends, expresses initial defeat and ultimate victory ... The overall effect is one of serenity. Overtones of sadness have been omitted to permit the individual to contemplate his own personal responses ... his innermost feelings.”

One of the three 19,585 pound anchors of the Arizona is displayed at the entrance of the visitor center. (One of the other two is at the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix.) One of the two ship's bells is in the visitor center. (Its twin is in the clock tower of the Student Memorial Center at the University of Arizona in Tucson.)

Every President of the United States since Franklin D. Roosevelt, and both Emperors Hirohito and Akihito have made a pilgrimage to the site.

The memorial is visited by more than one million persons annually. Because of the large number of visitors and the limited number of boat departures, the 4,500 tickets available each day are often fully allocated by mid-morning. Before boarding the boat for the short trip to the Memorial, a 23-minute documentary film depicting the attack on Pearl Harbor is presented. Touring of the Memorial is self-guided. The National Park Service website provides visitor information, including hours of operation and ticketing advisories.


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