That day’s groundbreaking at Pearl Harbor marked a significant step toward the creation of a lasting memorial to honor the 429 sailors, officers and Marines who perished on the ‘‘Okie,’’ many of whom until 2002 rested in unmarked mass graves. Yet until 2006, neither memorial nor marker existed to commemorate her and her crew. The casualties aboard the USS Oklahoma represent the second-largest loss of life aboard any Pearl Harbor ship. One year and a day before the Japanese attack, the Oklahoma was assigned to Pearl Harbor. She served in both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets through the 1920s and 1930s. Back in 2006, while serving in Congress representing Oklahoma’s 2nd District, I had the honor of commemorating the groundbreaking of a memorial to the USS Oklahoma, which was lost on that fateful day in 1941.Ĭommissioned in 1916, the 583-foot USS Oklahoma escorted President Woodrow Wilson to and from France at the conclusion of World War I. Today is the 82nd anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

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