Good Evening,
On behalf of the USS Missouri Memorial Association, I want to welcome you and express our sincere and heartfelt gratitude for the many ways you continue to support Battleship Missouri and its programs.
My name is Ralph Couey. I am a tour guide and a former crew member of Missouri, serving from 1988 to 1990, the last two years of my Navy career. I was a Chief Petty Officer in charge of Combat Engagement Center and the 65 good men who worked there. As you might expect, many memories lurk among the passageways and compartments, ready to ambush me unexpectedly. I can tell you that the first day I came back aboard to work here was an emotional experience. I remember entering the ship's interior, being enveloped by that familiar scent of steel, paint, and fuel oil, and knowing I had returned home.
Since that day, I’ve had nothing but fun, and I am so pleased and proud to work with such a great crew. I am hard-pressed to remember when I’ve been around a happier, more caring group of people.
There are many memorials in the United States, touchstones of times of challenge and adversity, times that demanded from each of us our best efforts, passions, courage, and, most importantly, our unity. These places are where we can return to those moments and eras that molded us both as a nation and a people. It is good that those events can still inspire us because it is so vital that we remember our past. We must honor those who went before, stood up to the dangers, and did the arduous work that brought us to this day. Their stories, those accounts we need to tell and re-tell again.
Memory is fickle. Time has a way of softening details and changing perceptions. For a given event in history, there are two groups of people: those who remember and those who learn. We who were around and cogent on that terrible day we know as 9/11 have strong memories of that tragedy, driven by shock, sorrow, and, yes, rage. We watched, most on television, some who were present as those aircraft knifed into both buildings of the World Trade Center. We learned about the attack on the Pentagon and watched with disbelieving eyes as that great concrete battleship burned. We heard about Flight 93 and the heroism of those passengers and crew who sacrificed their lives and prevented an even larger tragedy. That day unfolded before us as no day ever had, burned into our memories. We remember what we were doing, how we found out, how we felt, and what we feared.
In the 23 years since a new generation was born and grew up, and 9/11 is different for them. They don’t have our powerful emotional memories, so while they watch the abundant video footage, they may feel some emotion. But there is no personal link to that day. And unless their parents and teachers have been diligent, for many of them, I suspect it might be just another test question.
This is why it is so very important not only to pass on the facts of that day but also to convey the emotional impact we felt and why—how it changed our lives and our world. If we in this room choose not to do that, then we ensure that 9/11 will one day be just a dry recitation devoid of meaning or purpose.
You see, it’s not enough to have a memorial. Its meaning is incomplete without the story behind it. It gives the memorial depth, breadth, and, most importantly, a connection. Missouri’s Tour Guides tell that story in such a way that it connects with our visitors, hopefully, that they learn that Missouri’s history is also their history. We take that responsibility very seriously. For those who once knew, we help them remember. For those who never knew, we help them learn. When people like you lend your support to a memorial, you help ensure that the story is not forgotten, that it never fades, and it will remain just as real and powerful as the day it happened.
I spent several years studying the Civil War, particularly the events surrounding those pivotal three days during July 1863 around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Two enormous armies collided in that small farm town for no other reason than the presence of the extensive road network.
From July 1st through the 3rd, North and South gave battle. The cost in blood was horrendous, with 51,000 casualties on both sides, including around 10,000 dead.
When we lived in nearby Virginia, I visited the battlefield many times and was always deeply moved by its solemnity. It seemed that I could feel in the landscape the very weight of the tragic loss of life.
One evening, I was standing on the hill known as Little Round Top, lost in my thoughts in the gathering dusk. Nearby, a young family was standing together. I heard the voice of a young girl ask, “Daddy, what happened here?”
The father knelt, gently wrapped his arm around his daughter and began to speak softly. And thus, the story of Gettysburg was passed to a new generation.
Ultimately, that is the essence of what we do aboard Missouri: preserve and pass on the story of this battleship and the country whose flag she still proudly flies into the hearts and minds of new generations and, thus, into the future. In the past, we have always depended on the voices and memories of the veterans of that era. But those voices are falling silent, lost to the merciless ravages of time. It becomes the duty of our voices to carry their memories forward. In a very real sense, Missouri is also their monument, a living, vibrant testament to their courage and valor.
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, one of the heroes of Gettysburg, was speaking of that battlefield when he said,
Visitors come to the USS Missouri from afar, some generations who never knew of World War II. But they come here and touch the past. Through that touch, they learn of the toil and loss, the courage and valor, the sacrifice and struggle. They sense the darkness of war but revel in the glorious light of hope that shone forth throughout the world when peace was finally restored, restored here on the decks of Battleship Missouri.
This ship must stay alive. Those stories must continue to be told. Each generation must be taught of the past in a way that it becomes personal and meaningful. We preserve, and we pass on. This is our commitment. Your role is no less vital. Without the continued support of people like you, Pier Foxtrot Five would be empty. And a crucial part of our nation’s history would fade into silence and be forgotten.
As long as Missouri exists, we will keep this story alive. We are a memorial, and we have a mission. That mission is to remember—to remember all those who served and especially to remember and honor those who will never be coming home. Join us in that mission. Help us keep the story alive for today, for all the tomorrows yet to come, and for the generations we will never know.
Thank you, and
good evening.
