AZ Raising Money to Bring WWII Guns to State
Arizona’s Secretary of State says private fundraising to bring two World War II-era guns to the state has been slow. But, he expects it to pick up in the coming months. From Phoenix, KJZZ’s Mark Brodie reports.
MARK BRODIE: Ken Bennett estimates the state has raised about ten percent of what it’ll cost to bring guns from the USS Arizona and USS Missouri to the state. The plan is to put them in Wesley Bolin Plaza, across the street from the state capitol. An anchor from the Arizona is already on display there…and Bennett says building on that would be a fitting tribute.
KEN BENNETT: "By adding a gun from the Arizona, representing the flagship of the Pacific fleet at the beginning of the war, and then a gun barrel from the USS Missouri, representing the flagship of the fleet at the end of the war, we’re trying to take a couple of artifacts of just the battleship Arizona, and really turn it into a monument honoring all of those who served in WWII."
MARK BRODIE: Bennett says the state won’t have to pay for the guns themselves…but that getting them from east coast storage yards to Arizona, by rail, will be the biggest cost. He estimates that’ll run a couple hundred thousand dollars. He’s hoping to be finished with fundraising, both for transportation, and to build the memorial itself, sometime this summer.
