Relic from USS Arizona to be part of WWII Global Education Center display

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The non-profit World War II Foundation Global Education Center based in South Kingstown has announced the pending acquisition of a small section of the USS Arizona, which will be put on permanent display at the center’s South Kingstown location. The 5’ x 5’ piece will be arriving late next month via shipment from Pearl Harbor.

The relic being sent to the WWII Global Education Center comes from the middle area of the battleship above the waterline, which was removed from the Arizona following the attack and relocated to Ford Island. The section does not come from any part of the ship that now rests in Pearl Harbor as part of the USS Arizona Memorial.

The USS Arizona was sunk on December 7, 1941 when a Japanese bomb struck the forward ammunition magazine of the battleship, igniting a huge fireball that consumed the Arizona and its crew. One thousand one hundred seventy-seven sailors and marines were killed in the explosion. Almost half of all those who died during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th were from the USS Arizona. More than 900 of her crew remain entombed aboard the battleship today.

“We are honored that the United States Navy and Pearl Harbor have chosen the World War II Global Education Center as a site to display a section of the USS Arizona,” said World War II Foundation Founder and Filmmaker Tim Gray. “We have done several films to date on the personal stories of the Arizona crew and to have a relic from the ship here in the facility will bring home to students the history of the battleship and its role in one of the most horrific and important events in world history,” Gray continued. “The attack on Oahu, Hawaii, Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona launched the United States into World War II, so having this relic here represents the beginning of America’s fight from 1941-1945,” Gray said.

“Your desire to have a piece for display with the World War II Foundation is appropriate and will be appreciated for generations to come,” said James Neuman, Commander Navy Region Hawaii, Public Affairs Office. To date, only about five locations around the world have been chosen to have a section of the USS Arizona on permanent display.

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