USS Arizona exhibit opens at Fort Miles

The public will get a rare chance to experience the Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in a one-of-a-kind interactive exhibit at the Fort Miles Museum in Cape Henlopen State Park.

With a 650-pound USS Arizona relic as its centerpiece, the exhibit features a state-of-the-art interactive map of Oahu, Hawaii, where visitors can relive the experiences of more than 20 Delawareans who were at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Two large video screens will show footage from the Pearl Harbor attack with sound effects, and the sinking and final resting place of the Arizona. Wall hangings throughout the room will tell the stories and history of Pearl Harbor, the Arizona and Delaware during World War II. The Arizona was sunk during the attack with the loss of 1,177 sailors and Marines. In all, 2,403 U.S. sailors, soldiers and civilians were killed.

Horizon Philanthropic Services senior associate Heidi Nasstrom Evans, exhibit curator, said the 15-month display will open in stages beginning with the Sept. 23 opening ceremony for invited guests. The exhibit will then be available free to the public when the museum is open for guided tours. Go to destateparks.com/fortmiles for a schedule. A series of off-season lectures and tours for veterans groups is also planned.

The exhibit, titled Oil Still Bleeds: A Relic and Remembrances of the Battleship USS Arizona, also honors Delaware’s forgotten heroes of Pearl Harbor. It is a collaborative effort of Horizon Philanthropic Services and the Fort Miles Historical Association. Horizon was able to raise $280,000 to create the exhibit. The premiere sponsors are the Christian and Julie Hudson Foundation and the Bank of America Foundation.

The Fort Miles Historical Association acquired the Arizona relic to create a Bookends of World War II exhibit to accompany a display of the USS Missouri gun barrel at the museum’s entrance. The Japanese leaders signed surrender documents under the gun barrels of the USS Missouri on Sept. 2, 1945. The museum now has relics from the start and end of World War II, one of only three known museums to have such a display.

Nasstrom Evans said extensive research has uncovered that more than 100 Delaware sailors, soldiers and Marines were stationed at Pearl Harbor when the attack occurred, including several men from Sussex County: Sgt. James Deakyne and John Graham Jr. of Rehoboth Beach; Radioman First Class Clinton Lockey of Laurel; Machinist’s Mate Imly Abbott Jr. of Milford; and Boatswain Mate George Penuel Jr. of Millsboro, who was killed when the destroyer USS Shaw was bombed. As many of the families as possible have been contacted, and some plan to attend the exhibit, she said.

Where the Arizona sank on battleship row is now a national memorial managed by the U.S. Park Service. Nine quarts of oil leak from the wreckage each day, hence the Oil Still Bleeds exhibit name.

The exhibit will be featured online through the Fort Miles website at fortmilesha.org.