Pearl Harbor/Omaha Beach question?

[barfownz]

I heard that bodies from the USS Arizona and Bodies along Omaha Beach are still being found today. Is that true?

[Tui]

Although many people were entombed in the ship, I would imagine their bodies would have been pretty much decomposed/ eaten away by marine life.

[Sosai X]

After 62 years, any remains would be skeletal, and highly fragmented at best. I highly doubt any are found after all this time. All the remains on board the Arizona are sealed inside the wreck, the National Park Service does not investigate their conditions as it is a protected grave site.

[barfownz]

Was the bombing of the USS Arizona the worst out of them all?

[Opus1guy]

Originally Posted by barfownz

Was the bombing of the USS Arizona the worst out of them all?

I'm sure to each person that was killed...theirs was the worst.

But if you want the exact stats...they're all over the internet. Google is your friend. But you'll find what you want here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor

[barfownz]

I did use google and wikipedia.

I'm just trying to find out more. I cant seem to find it on the WWW.

[Simply Mad]

My hubby has a history degree and his family is from Hawaii. He says that while other ships in Battleship Row completely sank like the Arizona did, it was the one with the greatest loss of life. If fact, about half the lives lost at Pearl Harbor were on the Arizona. All of the other ships that sank in Battleship Row were refloated, repaired, and put back in service...with exception of the Oklahoma which sank while being towed back to the mainland. There is one other ship on the other side of Ford Island which is still submerged. That one is the Utah.

[IndyJn511]

Perhaps you heard that they were still giving off oil? Because thats the only thing that rings a bell for me.

[sir clinksalot]

Book a flight to Hawaii and go to the Arizona memorial. A very emotional thing.

Look up Arizona Memorial online and you may be able to get more info.

[Mousey Girl]

15-20 years ago the government, at the urging of environmentalists tried to exhume the bodies from the Arizona. My Aunt and Grandmother led the fight to stop them. My Dad's Dad is entombed on the Arizona. I've been there, and don't ever want to go back. I will eventually. I want to show The Boy a huge piece of his history.

[Jazzman]

Regarding Omaha, it now barely shows any sign that a battle was ever even fought there. After the landings there was so much work done by the Corps to turn it into a conduit for material that most of the topography was stripped away. The heaviest concrete bunkers still overlook the beach itself, but other than that it looks very normal and unassuming. There are still a few wrecks of landing craft and a few DD tanks (amphibious tanks) rotting away off shore in deeper waters where they were sunk, but no bodies to be washed ashore. The military did a pretty thorough job of gathering all of the dead and burying them in the cemetery at Normandy, which is an incredibly beautiful and moving place by the way, but there is of course always the possibility that one or two were missed. At this point, however, the body would be decayed away to almost nothing. Rumors of bodies washing up still today are merely myth.

As an aside, however, if one searches around intently, there are still a few old small relics to be found from the invasion, such as the occasional bullet casing and such. They’ve become rare, but are still around to some degree.

[barfownz]

Originally Posted by Mousey Girl

15-20 years ago the government, at the urging of environmentalists tried to exhume the bodies from the Arizona. My Aunt and Grandmother led the fight to stop them. My Dad's Dad is entombed on the Arizona. I've been there, and don't ever want to go back. I will eventually. I want to show The Boy a huge piece of his history.

So your Grandpa is in the Arizona today?

Originally Posted by sir clinksalot

Book a flight to Hawaii and go to the Arizona memorial. A very emotional thing.
Look up Arizona Memorial online and you may be able to get more info.

We are going Oahu and Maui over the summer.

Originally Posted by IndyJn511

Perhaps you heard that they were still giving off oil? Because thats the only thing that rings a bell for me.

Yes, I heard about that. wh yis it still giving off oil? I heard that its still around half a tank of oil left. True?

Originally Posted by Simply Mad

My hubby has a history degree and his family is from Hawaii. He says that while other ships in Battleship Row completely sank like the Arizona did, it was the one with the greatest loss of life. If fact, about half the lives lost at Pearl Harbor were on the Arizona. All of the other ships that sank in Battleship Row were refloated, repaired, and put back in service...with exception of the Oklahoma which sank while being towed back to the mainland. There is one other ship on the other side of Ford Island which is still submerged. That one is the Utah.

Why didn't they raise the Arizona or the Utah?

Originally Posted by Jazzman

Regarding Omaha, it now barely shows any sign that a battle was ever even fought there. After the landings there was so much work done by the Corps to turn it into a conduit for material that most of the topography was stripped away. The heaviest concrete bunkers still overlook the beach itself, but other than that it looks very normal and unassuming. There are still a few wrecks of landing craft and a few DD tanks (amphibious tanks) rotting away off shore in deeper waters where they were sunk, but no bodies to be washed ashore. The military did a pretty thorough job of gathering all of the dead and burying them in the cemetery at Normandy, which is an incredibly beautiful and moving place by the way, but there is of course always the possibility that one or two were missed. At this point, however, the body would be decayed away to almost nothing. Rumors of bodies washing up still today are merely myth.

As an aside, however, if one searches around intently, there are still a few old small relics to be found from the invasion, such as the occasional bullet casing and such. They’ve become rare, but are still around to some degree.

So you can still find bullet shells and dog tags and such?

Theres Higgins boats still sunk out in deep water?

What happened to those "X" things where the Alies hid behind? Why did they take it out? What about the barbed wire where we got over, and what about the bunkers where the Germans took most of our guys out with Machine gun fire? Did they remove the bunkers?

I bet if somebody who never knew about D-Day and went to Omaha, Tey wouldnt know that a bloody battle was fought on the shores.

So Omaha Beach today, Is just a regular reach where people can go visit and go in the water?

What does "Old Relics" mean?

What about the bodies of people who drowned because they got caught from the sand bar?

[Opus1guy]

Originally Posted by barfownz

I did use google and wikipedia.

I'm just trying to find out more. I cant seem to find it on the WWW.

Well, the Wikipedia link I provided you does answer your question...

Originally Posted by barfownz

Was the bombing of the USS Arizona the worst out of them all?

In case you skipped over it:

Ninety minutes after it began, the attack was over. 2403 Americans died (68 were civilians, most killed by American anti-aircraft shrapnel and shells landing in civilian areas, including Honolulu), a further 1178 wounded. Eighteen ships were sunk, including five battleships. Nearly half of the American fatalities — 1,102 men — were caused by the explosion and sinking of Arizona.

[barfownz]

Are there many USS Arizona Survivors left? How could they of survived? Do they jump overboard, take a life boat, or what? When the survivors do visit the place? What do they do?

Sorry for the questions. I'm interested.


Heres a few photos i found...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ormandyLST.jpg

http://www.anders.com/pictures/publi...-8-2001_sm.jpg

http://www.mishalov.com/images/arizona_pearlharbor.jpg

[IndyJn511]

Yes, I heard about that. wh yis it still giving off oil? I heard that its still around half a tank of oil left. True?

Im not sure how much is left, but the cause is just the general decomposition of the boat's structure. Albeit, its not just pouring out, but it is leaking at an alarming rate.