Battleship USS Missouri joins the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor

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In this dramatic photo taken 22 June 1998, tug boats push the battleship USS Missouri (BB 63) to its new berth at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii to join the USS Arizona Memorial seen in the foreground. The Missouri was towed 2,600-miles across the Pacific Ocean from Bremerton, WA to Pearl Harbor.

World War II began for the United States on 7 December 1941 when Japanese forces attacked the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor and other military installations in Hawaii. Over half of the 2,400 lives lost that day were from the crew of the Arizona which was sunk by a huge explosion. More than three and a half years later, World War II ended on 2 September 1945 when the Japanese formally surrendered in a ceremony on the deck of the USS Missouri. Now, the Missouri will be used as a museum near the Arizona Memorial so together they can serve as symbols of the beginning and the end of World War II.

Today in WW II: 9 Jul 1940 Battle of Calabria [Battle of Punta Stilo, the toe of Italy] fought between the Italian Royal Navy and the British/Australian Royal Navies, 30 miles [48km] east of Punta Stilo. More ?

9 Jul 1943 US-British invasion of Sicily begins [night of 9-10 Jul].
9 Jul 1944 British and Canadian forces capture Caen from the Germans, a critical post-D-Day objective in Normandy, France.
9 Jul 1944 US forces reach the northern end of Saipan, finding thousands of Japanese civilian men, women, and children who commit suicide by leaping off the cliffs rather than be captured.
Visit the Olive-Drab.com World War II Timeline for day-by-day events 1939-1945! See also WW2 Books.