Two decades ago about 2,500 people turned out to mark the transition of the nation’s last battleship, USS Missouri, into a living-history museum berthed at Ford Island.
A similar crowd is expected Saturday to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Mighty Mo opening as a historical attraction, which took place Jan. 29, 1999, and its 75th anniversary of entering into military service, which began Jan. 29, 1944.
Moving into 2020, the ship also will play a significant role in marking the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII since the Japanese surrender took place aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945.
On Saturday a short private ceremony with dignitaries representing the Missouri’s past and present will take place at 7:30 a.m. Then the Battleship Missouri Memorial will celebrate Living History Day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. by offering free admission to all Hawaii residents and all active-duty and retired armed forces members and their dependents. There will be special historical exhibits, displays and music throughout the day. Free shuttle service from the USS Arizona visitor center to the battleship will be offered.
Mike Carr, president and CEO of USS Missouri Memorial Association Inc., said he’s expecting 2,000 to 3,000 attendees for Saturday’s Living History Day, which pays homage to one of the most famous battleships of all time.
“Two years after the ship was launched, she became a worldwide symbol of enduring peace when WWII ended on her decks,” Carr said. “This Saturday begins for us a whole 20 months of activities to recognize that event. The 75th anniversary of the end of WWII will be national in scope. It will begin in Washington, D.C., in May 2020 and culminate here on Sept. 2, 2020.”
The USS Missouri steamed into Pearl Harbor on Christmas Eve 1944. The Iowa-class battleship was decommissioned in 1955 but was brought back into active duty in 1986. Its 16-inch guns were used to pound the Kuwaiti coastline during Operation Desert Storm so that Saddam Hussein’s forces would think that a massive beach landing was imminent. Its last official military act was to attend the 50th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
After its second decommissioning in March 1992, the Missouri was mothballed at the Navy’s Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in Washington state. It wasn’t until 1996 that the Navy selected the nonprofit USS Missouri Memorial Association as its new caretaker.
Leslie Guy Lancaster Jr., who was part of the team that helped with the transfer of the USS Missouri to Pearl Harbor in 1998, was at the Mighty Mo’s memorial debut and is still in awe of how far it’s come. The memorial has welcomed more than 8.5 million visitors worldwide and, so far, thanks to donors’ generosity, has remained open during the government shutdown.
Lancaster, a retired Navy master chief now serving as the battleship’s director of engineering operations, still remembers pulling a rose bush out of the deteriorating vessel.
“It was disgusting,” he said. “The inside was like a dungeon. But there were signs of life. If you walked by the old bake shop, you could still smell cinnamon rolls — it was embedded in the walls. “
Just bringing the 45,000-ton dreadnought to Honolulu required a rebirth of sorts. The late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye shepherded the Missouri memorial proposal though Congress and the Pentagon. Then scores of volunteers and association employees, including Lancaster, spent more than 25,000 hours restoring the battleship. It’s still labor- intensive. In 2018, 4,634 volunteers accrued more than 14,000 hours of service.
“I spent 18-1/2 years at sea on ships,” Lancaster said. “I loved them all — the oilers, the gators, the amphibious assaults. I love this ship, too. Everyone seems to keep coming. As long as we keep maintaining it, it will be like that forever.”
That’s also the dream of Toby Langcaon, 85, who worked on the USS Missouri from 1952 to 1955 and now serves as a part-time tour guide. Langcaon passionately recounts serving three USS Missouri captains who become admirals and their VIP guests, including Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio, who once boarded the ship in Long Beach, Calif.
“I can’t tell you how grateful that I am to be back on my ship after 60-something years. God, this is heaven. This ship has so much history. I hate to say that some people might forget it. We are here to make sure that they don’t forget it,” he said.
FREE DAY
The Battleship Missouri Memorial is offering a free day to Hawaii residents and military personnel from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Throughout the day a free shuttle will transport visitors from the USS Arizona visitor center to the Mighty Mo.
Throughout January the memorial also is offering 1999-era pricing for military and kamaaina. Discounted prices are $14 (normally $29) for adults and $10 (normally $13) for children.
For information, call 423-2263 or visit ussmissouri.org.
