Concert Collects $30,000 For USS Oklahoma Memorial

Monday, July 2nd 2007, 3:14 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Organizers estimate $30,000 was raised at a concert to benefit a memorial for the 429 crewmen who died aboard the USS Oklahoma when it was attacked by the Japanese on December 7th, 1941.

The Oklahoma was second only to the USS Arizona in the number of casualties that occurred during the attack that plunged the United States into World War Two.

A concert headliner was Oklahoma native Anita Bryant, the 1958 Miss Oklahoma and the second runner-up at the 1959 Miss America Pageant.

Five of the estimated 100 surviving crewmen from the battleship attended the nearly two-hour concert Sunday.

Although admission was free, concert goers were asked to contribute to the memorial.

About $500,000 still is needed for the memorial, which would be dedicated December 7th on Ford Island at Pearl Harbor, near where the battleship capsized.