GREEN, Ohio, 12/01/04  On Saturday, December 4th, 2004, at 1:00 PM the MAPS Air Museum dedicated their ultra-rare artifact from the battleship USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  The USS Arizona was sunk during the Japanese sneak attack on December 7, 1941, thus bringing the United States into World War II.  The ship went down, taking with it 1,177  Navy and Marine personnel.  Many of the men are still buried within the hull of the ship under the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, near Honolulu, Hawaii.  One of the men interred in the ship is the brother of MAPS member Ed Smith.  The artifact was requested for the museum by Ed Smith’s daughter, Angie Gohlke who wrote to the Department of the Navy and then Congressman Tom Sawyer.  It is very rare for a private museum to hold such a piece of American history.   

The ceremony began at 1:00 PM with the color guard from the U S Navy Reserve from Youngstown, Ohio. Thirty-two survivors of “The Day That Will Live In Infamy” were recognized at the unveiling.  Remarks were made by State Senator Kirk Schuring and State Representative Scott Olslager.