Planning is underway for the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum in North Little Rock to host a statewide observance of the 75th anniversary of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7.
The museum on the Arkansas River, just east of the Main Street Bridge, added the tug Hoga, YT-146, in November. The Hoga survived the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on the U.S. naval base in Hawaii, fighting ship fires and pulling survivors from the waters. The attack pushed the United States into World War II.
The museum was the site for the state's 2015 Pearl Harbor observance in December, just two weeks after the Hoga arrived in North Little Rock by tow. Three Arkansans who survived the attack were honored guests.
"We want to take it statewide and not get just Pearl Harbor survivors but have as many World War II veterans down here as we can," said Greg Zonner, the museum's executive director. "We're working on having a three-day ceremony starting on that Monday [Dec. 5] and ending on the 7th."
"We've been working on it for about a month," Zonner said. "We have committees and we're trying to get sponsors. We'll reach out to all the museums to try to do different events at different places. We have a lot of things in the works."
The U.S. Navy awarded the Hoga to North Little Rock in 2005 for preservation and restoration. The city won out in a competition with four other groups nationally. It took 10 years for the city to arrange transport of the boat from California and meet the Navy's requirements for its transportation. The boat arrived Nov. 23 after a journey of eight weeks by tow and cargo ship.
More information about the Dec. 7 event is available from the maritime museum's website aimmuseum.org, or the North Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau. Its phone number is (501) 758-1424.
NW News on 07/10/2016