At Last, USS Oklahoma Will Get Its Own Memorial

Thursday, December 7th 2006, 10:59 am

By: News On 6

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) -- 15 USS Oklahoma survivors plunged shovels into the dirt at Pearl Harbor Thursday to break ground on a memorial to the 429 servicemen who died on board the battleship 65 years ago.

A black stone memorial, to be built on a grassy spot on Pearl Harbor's Ford Island, will feature engraved sketches of the ship and the names of those killed.

It will sit a few hundred yards away from where the Oklahoma was moored on December 7th, 1941, when Japanese planes pummeled it with up to nine torpedoes. The ship capsized in less than 20 minutes as water filled the hull, leaving most of its crew trapped inside.

Officials hope to dedicate the Oklahoma memorial next year. About $260,000 of the $750,000 needed has been raised.