Media Advisory: UArizona ROTC units hosting Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day event

Dec. 6, 2023

Media Advisory: UArizona ROTC units hosting Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day event

What: The University of Arizona Naval and Air Force ROTC will host a ceremony and silent vigil at the UArizona Mall to honor the sacrifice of the service members who died on the USS Arizona on Dec. 7, 1941, during the attack on Pearl Harbor.
When: Thursday, Dec. 7. The ceremony begins at 7 a.m. A 12-hour silent vigil is expected to start at 5 a.m.
Where: The USS Arizona Memorial on the UArizona Mall, located between the Student Union Memorial Center and the Chemistry Building.
Media Availability: Col. Shannon M. Shea, professor of naval science and Naval ROTC Commanding Officer, and Andrew Desautels, Secretary Emeritus of the USS Arizona Reunion Association, will be available after the ceremony for interviews.

TUCSON, Ariz. — The University of Arizona Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps will host a memorial event at the USS Arizona Mall Memorial to honor the sacrifice of the service members who gave their lives Dec. 7, 1941, during the attack on Pearl Harbor. An Air Force ROTC Honor Guard will also host a 12-hour silent vigil, starting at 5 a.m., along the USS Arizona Mall Memorial walkway, located between the Student Union Memorial Center and the Chemistry Building.

During the ceremony and vigil, members of the honor guard will dress in full uniform and carry unloaded, replica rifles, which are only used for ceremonial purposes.

The commemorative ceremony will include an invocation and playing of the national anthem, as well as remarks from professor of naval science and Naval ROTC Commanding Officer, Col. Shannon M. Shea and USS Arizona Reunion Association Secretary Emeritus Andrew Desautels. The ceremony will close with the playing of the taps bugle call and a bell ringing honoring those entombed in the USS Arizona.

UArizona dedicated the USS Arizona Mall Memorial in 2016 to honor the sacrifices of the soldiers, and others, killed during the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The memorial traces a full-scale outline of the ship's deck into the grass on the Mall just east of Old Main. The memorial also includes a brick plaza with panels and bronze medallions displaying the name, rank and home state of each of the 1,177 sailors and Marines who died on the ship.

The Air Force and Naval ROTC programs at UArizona are educational and experiential programs designed to train future leaders for the United States Armed Forces.

University community members and visitors are welcome to attend the ceremony and silent vigil.

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Media contact:
Logan Burtch-Buus
University Communications
520-609-1383
lburtchbuus@arizona.edu

The University of Arizona, a land-grant university with two independently accredited medical schools, is one of the nation's top public universities, according to U.S. News & World Report. Established in 1885, the university is widely recognized as a student-centric university and has been designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education. The university ranked in the top 20 in 2022 in research expenditures among all public universities, according to the National Science Foundation, and is a leading Research 1 institution with $824 million in annual research expenditures. The university advances the frontiers of interdisciplinary scholarship and entrepreneurial partnerships as a member of the Association of American Universities, the 71 leading public and private research universities in the U.S. and Canada. It benefits the state with an estimated economic impact of $4.1 billion annually.