By Robert Widener
(Continued)
“You’ll have the feeling you’re standing among members of the crew,” King said of the design. “It will be like a living memorial.”
During last year’s groundbreaking ceremonies, 89-year-old Goodyear told the crowd: “I think if you will all listen deep down in your hearts, I think you will hear 429 thank you's.”
Goodyear was on duty aboard the Oklahoma the morning planes appeared on the horizon. By the time he realized they were Japanese, torpedoes were already on their way, slamming into the vulnerable battleship.
It took only 11 minutes for the Oklahoma to capsize. That’s when Goodyear dove into the water and swam to the nearby USS Maryland amid strafing Japanese planes.
A haunting memory for Goodyear is of the ship’s trapped crew members who were heard tapping for help for days. Despite determined efforts, only 32 could be reached by cutting through the hull.
Funding for the memorial came mostly from private sources, generally from within the state. The fundraising effort got an extra boost of $350,000 from the Oklahoma Centennial Commission when it adopted the project for the state’s 100th birthday.
About 90 survivors are alive today. Thirteen are expected to attend the dedication, including three who escaped through the cut-out hull.
“It will be a very emotional event,” said Goodyear of the dedication. “Not only for the survivors and their relatives, but for everyone there.”
King says of the event: “We’re resurrecting a battleship and 429 guys to be remembered for generations to come. It was just so sad that they were forgotten all this time.”
Ensign Theresa Donnelly of the USS Russell,
Sen. Jim Reynolds, and Kevin King at the USS Oklahoma Memorial before the dedication ceremony.
© 2007 Kevin King/Paul Goodyear