Ensign Marsh

The USS Marsh DE-699 was named in honor of Ensign Benjamin Raymond Marsh, Jr., USNR, born 11 October 1916 in Lansing, Mich., enlisted in the Naval Reserve 17 August 1940 at Detroit, Michigan. His enlistment terminated 13 February 1941, and he was appointed midshipman in the Reserve the following day, receiving his commission as ensign 15 May 1941. Initially assigned to the seaplane tender USS Tangier, he was transferred 4 November 1941 to the USS Arizona. Ensign Marsh was declared dead following the attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941.

USS Marsh DE 699 was laid down 23 June 1943 by the Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, Michigan; launched 25 September 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Ben R. Marsh, mother of Ensign Marsh; commissioned 12 January 1944, Lt. Comdr. P.M. Fenton in command.

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USS Arizona Memorial

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, resulted in the nation suffering one of its worst wartime losses: 2,390 men, women, and children were killed in this attack. 1,177 sailors, marines and officers died on the battleship USS Arizona BB-39. Ensign Benjamin R. Marsh, Jr., assigned to this ship, became one of these casualties aboard the USS Arizona. Today the USS Arizona remains the final resting place for a majority of its 1,177 of its crew killed on that fateful day. President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed December 7, 1941, as "A date which will live in infamy".

The USS Arizona?s life was extinguished by a direct hit to its forward magazines resulting in the great loss of life. USS Arizona Memorial is located near Ford Island, in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The hull, resting on the bottom of the harbor, is partly visible from the memorial. Although most of the Arizona is submerged, a few parts of its structure emerge above the water. This memorial, an enclosed bridge structure, spans the hull of the sunken battleship, was dedicated on May 30, 1962 as a tribute to the men who went down with the ship. This memorial, built over the sunken battleship USS Arizona, was dedicated to those who lost their lives in the historic attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. All 1,177 names of the sailors, marines and officers killed aboard the USS Arizona during that attack are engraved on the back wall of the memorial.

Over one million people visit the USS Arizona Memorial each year. In 1980, the National Park Service took over operation of the memorial from the U.S. Navy. USS Arizona Memorial is open to visitors who are transported to the memorial by boat departing from the USS Arizona Memorial Visitors center.

USS Arizona Memorial is a vivid reminder of the outbreak of World War II between the United States and Japan. Battleship USS Missouri BB 63, a floating memorial is now moored near the sunken USS Arizona Memorial. The Japanese surrender documents were signed aboard the USS Missouri ending World War II. Together, these two memorials represent the beginning and conclusion of World War II with the Japanese.