Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett (R), is spearheading an effort to collect the last of Arizona's guns at the State Capitol complex.
Why would a Republican take on this issue?
Because the guns are from the USS Arizona (and USS Missouri), and Ken Bennett wants to move them from rusting in Naval yards to a proper memorial at the State Capitol!
The U.S. Navy has granted Secretary of State Ken Bennett permission to indefinitely house two World War II warship guns - weighing 70 and 140 tons - in front of the state Capitol. Bennett will soon begin trying to raise up to $500,000 in private funds to transport the two guns from Virginia and Maryland, clean them up and display them.
The state has official memorials at the Capitol for every war except World War II, Bennett said.
Arizona does have two large items from the war already on display at the Capitol: the anchor and signal mast from the USS Arizona, the ship that symbolizes America's entry into World War II. The USS Arizona sank during Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, killing more than a thousand people. But they are not part of an official memorial.
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Bennett's trying to raise the funds through sponsorships and donations in order (of course) to keep the taxpayer burden low. The estimated cost would be about $500,000 - not a paltry sum.
The two guns would be incorporated into the other USS Arizona relics at the Capitol - One signifying the start of the war, the other the end.
The Arizona's guns were re-purposed several times, as coastal batteries and as replacements on other ships (the Nevada) wiki. The guns on the Nevada were lost when she was sunk for target practice. The others were used in coastal batteries in Hawai`i.
The Missouri guns are most likely the guns that were affixed during construction; The Missouri was extensively overhauled in 1984.
It really says something that the only person in Arizona government who cares enough about something that could be a uniting cause to preserve history is the Secretary of State, who doesn't officially have this role. "Headless" Jan Brewer should take notes - not everything you do has to be a political ploy.