Relic from USS Arizona comes to Rhode Island
SOUTH KINGSTOWN — Rusty and weathered from its tragic history, a relic from the attack that thrust the United States into World War II has come to rest in Wakefield.
“It’s just amazing,” said Tim Gray, founder of The World War II Foundation, just after welcoming the salvaged piece from the USS Arizona to the WWII Global Education Center on Monday.
A documentary filmmaker with 22 films on WWII under his belt, Gray has collected some 2,000 artifacts from the time period.
And with the addition of this latest relic to the collection of vintage militaria, old uniforms and faded maps and newspaper pages, the center is able to present an even fuller visual of WWII.
“This is where it all began for the United States in World War II,” Gray said as he stood beside the relic, a five-by-four-foot, nearly 200-pound steel slab.
Built over a century ago, the USS Arizona was one of several U.S. Navy battleships sunk on Dec. 7, 1941 at the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, in the attack that led the United States into WWII. Nearly half of the more than 2,400 victims of the attack were killed aboard the USS Arizona, totaling 1,177 sailors and Marines, according to the National Park Service.
“To me,” Gray said, “it represents everything that happened on that day, and it represents everything that happened over the next four years of World War II.”
While most of the USS Arizona—designated in 1989 as a National Historic Landmark— remains memorialized at Pearl Harbor, bits of its wreckage removed after the attack have been donated to museums and memorial centers worldwide.
During a ceremony Monday morning at T.F. Green Airport, where the relic was unloaded from a FedEx cargo plane last week, U.S. Sen. Jack Reed recognized the relic as a crucial tool for sharing “the story of Pearl Harbor with a wider audience and future generations.”
“Artifacts like this are critical for connecting people to history,” Reed said, before the relic was transported by FedEx truck to its new home in Wakefield.
“It reminds us of the sacrifice and service of a whole generation who fought in World War II,” Reed continued, “particularly the more than 1,000 sailors and marines who are still entombed in the Arizona.”
The excitement was palpable Monday, as veterans, police officers and others lined the sidewalk outside the global education center in anticipation of the relic’s arrival.
“We’re fortunate to have it in Wakefield,” VFW Post 916 member Steve Stewart said, waiting alongside fellow VFW members.
VFW 916 Post Commander Tiger Patrick shared a similar sentiment.
“[Gray] has saved memories and information and data that would be lost without his effort,” said Patrick, who added later that it was “a huge honor” for VFW members to serve as Honor Guard in Monday’s reception.
“We used to have a lot of Navy
veterans—in particular we had a couple Pearl Harbor survivors— who were part of our post,” Patrick continued. “I know this would be a big day for them.”
The relic was escorted to 344 Main St. by state and local police, with members of the Patriot Guard Riders trailing on their motorcycles. On its arrival, veterans stood in salute as four officers from the Navy Supply Corps School in Newport carried the bit of history from the truck into the education center.
“There were more than 3,400 casualties, with 2,400 killed that day,” Patrick added. “America was forever changed in an instant, and the artifact from the USS Arizona is a solemn reminder of the sacrifice so many made that day and during the war.”
The relic today sits displayed across from the entrance to the WWII Global Education Center. For Gray, it seemed appropriate that it be the first item visitors to the center encounter.
“When people walk in, they’ll see this first,” Gray said, gesturing toward the relic, as guests moseyed about, checking out the propaganda posters and discolored photographs and tattered clothing on display. “And that’s symbolic, because this is where it all began.”