MIGHTY MO TO TAKE ON NEW ROLE

The USS Missouri, namesake of the Show Me State, is about to become a war memorial. Fittingly, the battleship will be anchored near the USS Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor. The new memorial will be a tribute to the role the Missouri played in our nation's defense.

Launched in 1944, the USS Missouri is best known for its role as the site of Japan's surrender, marking the end of World War II. Since that historic date, the battleship has been through decommissioning, modernization and reactivation. It was among the fleet that demonstrated U.S. resolve in the Persian Gulf in 1991. It was decommissioned again in 1992.

In 1996, the Navy selected the USS Missouri Memorial Association to be the caretaker of the battleship as it moves to its last port in Hawaii. Last month it began its last voyage from the West Coast. As a war memorial, the USS Missouri will continue to remind thousands of visitors of the sacrifices made by so many for liberty and freedom.

Bon voyage.