The Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum is highlighting a week of events commemorating the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
North Little Rock may seem an unlikely site of naval significance but those with the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum say it’s the only place in the U.S., other than Hawaii, where visitors can tour U.S. Navy ships present at the beginning and end of U.S. involvement in World War II. The museum claimed this distinction when it became home to the U.S. Navy Tugboat Hoga one year ago.
“The Hoga is the last surviving vessel from the attack on Pearl Harbor and our submarine [USS] Razorback is one of the vessels that was present in Tokyo Bay during the surrender ceremony, so we are the only place in the continental United States that has bookends to World War II,” said Allison Hiblong, the museum’s director of operations.
In addition to the maritime museum’s annual ceremony Wednesday, the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, the Jacksonville Museum of Military History, the Clinton Presidential Center, and several area libraries will showcase World War II exhibits. A full list of events and activities can be found here.
Hiblong says the 75th anniversary provides the opportunity to demonstrate the historical resources available in Arkansas.
“So really it’s just a way to show people that all of this is available to you all the time,” said Hiblong, “but we really wanted to highlight those areas for this particular week."
The maritime museum’s ceremony will begin Wednesday morning at 11:30. Two Arkansas veterans of World War II are scheduled to appear. The ceremony will include a moment of silence at 11:48 a.m., which, according to some sources, is the time attacks began on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
