In the bright sunlight, the USS Arizona Memorial gleams holy white—a striking contrast between the azure Oʻahu sky and the deep blue Pacific Ocean. It stands as a solemn tribute, a sacred reminder of the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan in 1941.

About remembrance, playwright Thornton Wilder once wrote, “The greatest tribute to the dead is not grief but gratitude.”

Partly funded by an Elvis Presley benefit concert, the 184-foot marble memorial was dedicated on this day in 1962. It rests above the sunken USS Arizona, where 1,177 sailors and marines remain entombed. An estimated 500,000 gallons of oil still lie sealed within its hull.

Ironically, the peaceful nine-minute boat ride to the memorial is about the time it took for a single bomb to sink the ship.

To reflect America’s initial devastation and ultimate resilience, architect Alfred Preis designed the structure to “sag in the center, but stand strong and vigorous at the ends.” Its open sides evoke a perpetual 21-gun salute.

“You always remember,” said William Cope, a B-17 pilot stationed at Hickam Air Force Base during the attack.

Each year, more than 1.6 million visitors walk the Arizona’s length in silence, reminded of the human cost of war. As Admiral Dennis C. Blair once said, those who gave their lives “will live on forever in spirit by continuing to move us. We salute them; we honor their sacrifice; we will not forget.”