Spirit of Aloha | Features | November/December 2007

7 Remember Pearl Harbor
By: Christine Thomas

THE VIEW FROM DIAMOND HEAD IS WORTH THE WALK

PHOTO: PETER FRENCH / PACIFIC STOCK

In terms of statistical interpretations—and in world tourism everybody counts everybody—the USS Arizona National Memorial at Pearl Harbor is Hawai‘i’s most visited non-admission attraction. Visiting the 184-foot-long memorial structure is a moving but not a cheerless experience, which was notable Austrian-born Honolulu architect Alfred Preis’s intent: “Overtones of sadness have been omitted to permit the individual to contemplate his own personal responses, his innermost feelings.” Most visitors to the memorial are probably unaware that it owes much of its existence to a concert given by Elvis Presley in the Bloch Arena next to the Pearl Harbor entrance in March 1961. Scorning his usual fee of $25,000, Elvis raised more than $60,000 and stimulated public awareness of the need for the memorial. Later that year, construction was completed with additional public funds and private donations. The memorial was dedicated in 1962.

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