|
USS Arizona
tickets hail heroes
The profiles of WWII valor are
expected to become collector's items
Beginning tomorrow, visitors to the USS Arizona Memorial will learn more about the heroes of Dec. 7, 1941, and the stories of those who survived the attack.
New commemorative tickets will feature the photo and story of one of 10 people who proved themselves heroes on and in the aftermath of Dec. 7. The tickets have already been dubbed collector's items.
But most important, museum historian Daniel Martinez said, is that visitors -- of a "generation that's become further removed from World War II" -- will become a little more familiar with an average person who became a hero on an extraordinary day.
"They'll be able to see a face. They'll be able to identify with a story," Martinez said. "We're trying to provide an experience that allows a person to understand what happened there."
|
The tickets took nearly a year to design and print with help from a Hawaii Pacific University graduate student and the National Park Service. They'll replace the plain tickets that were handed out to visitors who take the boat tour.
The Arizona Memorial Museum Association, which runs the museum's bookstore, has covered printing costs -- totaling about $20,000 -- for nearly 1 million tickets.
Each year, more heroes are expected to be introduced on the tickets.
Tom Shaw, president and chief executive officer of the museum association, said he hopes visitors will come to appreciate the "individual acts of sacrifice and heroism" profiled in the tickets.
"It's been 63 years," he said, "and it gives them (visitors) the opportunity to go back in time so that they can better appreciate what happened that day."
Among those profiled are:
>> Harry Pang, the first civilian firefighter to receive the Purple Heart, who was killed in the attack while trying to put out a fire on Hickam Air Field.Tickets will be distributed starting tomorrow at 7:30 a.m., and then every 15 minutes until 3 p.m. Also tomorrow, a new $5 audio tour will debut that allows visitors to hear survivors' stories in seven different languages.>> Torao Migita, the first Japanese-American serviceman killed in World War II, who was killed by friendly fire in downtown Honolulu. The Kauai native, a U.S. Army private, was awarded the Purple Heart.
>> Rudy Martinez, the first Mexican-American killed in World War II, who went down with the USS Utah in the attack and received the Purple Heart. "He is one of the many soldiers entombed" within the ship, reads his profile. "A bereaved family took comfort in the meaning of a medal that signified his sacrifice."
The addition allows visitors to explore the visitor's center, shoreside exhibits, museum and memorial with a headset and a self-controlled audio player.
www.nps.gov/usar
