Forty-one Coloradans died in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Thirty-two of them were trapped inside the Arizona when it sank.
Rick Crandall, founder and executive director of the Freedom Memorial, said the relic is a section of a beam that remained above water and was preserved after the Arizona sank. Tuesday’s delivery also included a map pinpointing its location on the ship.
About 150 pieces of the Arizona have been distributed around the U.S. over the years. Crandall said his group’s application was approved just before the military’s recent suspension of the program.
The Freedom Memorial is an outside venue with panels bearing the names of more than 6,000 Coloradans killed or missing in action in wars since statehood. Plans for an indoor exhibition space are underway. The relic will stay in storage until that’s done, but it will be displayed occasionally at public events, Crandall said.
