Pearl Harbor sites included in Pacific monument honoring WWII
By Dennis Camire
Advertiser Washington Bureau
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WASHINGTON — Five sites at Pearl Harbor — including the USS Arizona Memorial and mooring quays on Battleship Row — are part of the new Valor in the Pacific National Monument.
President Bush yesterday proclaimed the national monument, which is comprised of World War II locations in Hawai'i, Alaska and California.
The five Hawai'i sites are all connected with the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, that brought the United States into the war.
Bush also signed a presidential proclamation in honor of National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day 2008, the 67th commemoration of the attack.
The Pearl Harbor sites are:
However, the sunken battleships Arizona and Utah will not be part of the monument and will remain under Navy control.
"The national monument will include nine sites — five in Hawai'i, three in Alaska and one in California at the Tule Lake Segregation Center, which was where Japanese Americans were detained during World War II," Bush said shortly before signing the proclamation.
The monument designation gives greater protection and recognition to the sites, all owned by the federal government.
Another seven Hawai'i sites and 12 elsewhere in the Pacific will receive official recognition.
"The recognized sites are sites of importance in telling the story of the World War II in the Pacific but are not officially part of the monument," said Chris Paolino, a spokesman for the Interior Department.
The seven Hawai'i sites receiving official recognition are all on O'ahu or offshore:
HONOR FOR TROOPS
Democratic Sens. Daniel K. Inouye and Daniel Akaka of Hawai'i said it was important to honor the courage, dedication and sacrifice of the troops who served in the Pacific.
"It is also important that we commemorate the actions of ordinary men and women who rallied to support their country during this time of war, including the citizens of Hawai'i who responded fearlessly to the attack on Pearl Harbor," the senators said in a joint statement.
The proclamation notes that in addition to the monument's five Hawai'i sites, Pearl Harbor is home to the battleships USS Arizona and USS Missouri — "milestones of the Pacific campaign that mark the beginning and end of the war."
Frank Hays, Pacific area director for the National Park Service, said monument status means the Arizona Memorial will have an enlarged mission.
"The proclamation did include telling a little bit broader story of World War II in the Pacific working with the various partner sites," Hays said.
Those sites include the independent, nonprofit museums that operate around Pearl Harbor.
Hays said the proclamation speaks of protected sites and recognized sites and "we'll have to figure out how we work together with those recognized sites." The proclamation calls for a management plan to be developed over three years.
The National Park Service negotiated with the Navy over sites that would be protected and recognized in Pearl Harbor in what is an active military base.
Bush said the new monument would remind generations of Americans of the sacrifices made to protect the country.
"One of the great stories during World War II was that people fought bitterly to defend our country and way of life and then worked to help our enemies develop democracies according to their own cultures and their own history," Bush said.
Today, Japan is one of the U.S.'s strongest allies in defending and spreading liberty, Bush said.
Reach Dennis Camire at dcamire@gns.gannett.com.
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