Day of Infamy to be Remembered with Construction of New Pearl Harbor Memorial

On an infamous day 65 years ago, 2,390 U.S. service members and civilians were killed when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, propelling the United States into World War II. Dedicated in 1980, a memorial was constructed on landfill above the watery grave of the battleship Arizona and the 1,177 sailors who perished with it. The USS Arizona Memorial Museum and Visitor Center in Hawaii is now in peril, the structural foundation deteriorating so rapidly it may have to be closed within the next two years.

Myriad problems and the need to accommodate more visitors -- 4,500 people a day visit the memorial, twice what it was built to accommodate -- have prompted a grassroots campaign to raise money to replace the memorial. A new facility, to be renamed the Pearl Harbor Memorial Museum and Visitor Center, is envisioned. Planned improvements include a 5-acre site expansion, doubling the size of the museum so that historical artifacts can be housed in a climate controlled environment, construction of a research and education center, expansion of the bookstore, and the addition of an outdoor amphitheatre.

Boosters have already raised three-quarters of the $28 million needed to break ground on a new facility next December. If the entire $50 million dollar fund raising goal is met, the planned new complex could open to visitors in 2009. To contribute to the fund drive, write Pearl Harbor Memorial Fund, 1 Arizona Memorial Place, Honolulu, Hawaii 96818 or visit their website.

County Stamp Center remembers and honors those who lost their lives on that tragic day in 1941. In two short hours, Japanese aircraft decended on Pearl Harbor, destroying or heavily damaging 21 ships and 320 aircraft, killing 2,390 and wounding 1,178 others. Four in five servicemen on the USS Arizona did not survive the day, the greatest loss of life of any ship in U.S. naval history. Every 5 years, on December 7, Pearl Harbor survivors have gathered at the USS Arizona Memorial to honor the dead. With survivors now in their 80s and 90s, this year may be their last official gathering. It will be up to future generations to make sure they are not forgotten.

To order the pictured stamp depicting scenes from the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the war in the Pacific Theater, click the post title. County Stamp Center offers an extensive collection of stamps commemorating World War II. Visit our website to view our entire collection. Come to County Stamp Center for all your philatelic needs.