As I rode the Navy launch across the water to visit the USS
Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor April 7, the calm ocean looked
like a pavement of sapphire, as blue as the sky itself.
As I rode the Navy launch across the water to visit the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor April 7, the calm ocean looked like a pavement of sapphire, as blue as the sky itself.
I wondered what I would see. I had heard that the names of those who died on the USS Arizona are posted on a wall, but I didn’t know how close I would be able to get to it and whether I would be able to read all of them.
The USS Arizona Memorial is an enclosed bridge which spans the hull of the sunken ship. It was dedicated May 30, 1962 as a tribute to more than a thousand men who went down with the ship Dec. 7, 1941 during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It resulted in the greatest loss of life on a naval warship in American history.
I had always heard a family rumor that one of my maternal cousins died that day on the USS Arizona. It was long before I was born, so I wasn’t even sure if the family story was true.
As I watched the Navy men piloting the launch in their spotless dress whites, I wondered if his name would really be there. If it was, I wanted to pay my respects. After walking across the hull of the ship, I finally stood in the shrine room before the tall marble wall stretching up more than 10 feet before me. There, just 38 names down from the top, I could see the black lettering against the white stone very clearly: “U.H. Marlow, COX.”
I couldn’t believe it. His name was smack dab in the center of the wall, in the optimal spot for visibility to every one of the more than 1.5 million annual visitors to the memorial.
I learned that the “H” in his name stood for “Herschel” and that his title was Cox, which means Coxswain or Swain (as in Police Officer/Doctor) or Petty Officer.
The names on the memorial wall tell a poignant tale of the price paid by their families. When I wondered why I saw so many last names listed more than once, I found out that there were 37 sets of brothers assigned to the USS Arizona on the day it went down, including Delbert and John Anderson, one set of twins. The ship’s crew included three sets of three brothers: Becker, Doherty and Murdock. One brother survived in each set. Twenty-three sets of brothers were lost that day.
There were a total of 77 brothers serving on the USS Arizona; 62 died as a result of the attack.
Thomas Augusta Free, from Texas, and his son William Thomas Free were the only father and son serving on the USS Arizona; they were killed in action as well. Kenneth and Russell Warriner were the only set of USS Arizona brothers who survived.
Now I know the final resting place of my cousin Urban Herschel Marlow and that he will never be forgotten.
The plaque at the memorial is dedicated to the 1,177 men from the USS Arizona who gave their lives that day, most of whom are permanently entombed beneath the ocean waves.
It reads: “Dedicated to the eternal memory of our gallant shipmates in the USS Arizona, who gave their lives in action 7 December 1941. ‘From today on the USS Arizona will again fly our country’s flag just as proudly as she did on the morning of 7 December 1941. I am sure the Arizona’s crew will know and appreciate what we are doing.’ Admiral A.W. Radford, USN, 7 March 1950. May God make His face to shine upon them and grant them peace.”
