Speeches & Testimony

Mr Speaker:

I rise to recognize the 75^th birthday of one of the most iconic ships ever to sail the seven seas, the US. Navy’s USS Missouri.

“Mighty Mo”, our last battleship, was commissioned June 11, 1944 after being laid down and launched at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.  She went on to one of the longest and most distinguished careers of any Navy ship ever, earning eleven battle stars in three wars: World War II, the Korean War, and Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

But she is best known for her role not in war but in peace. For of course it was on her decks at anchor in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, V-J Day, that General Douglas MacArthur accepted the surrender of Japan, ending World War

Mighty Mo was finally struck from the Register in 1995, and for the last two decades she has been moored in a place of honor at Pearl Harbor alongside her fallen sisters, most notably the USS Arizona, as a living museum under the loving stewardship of the USS Missouri Memorial Association, in partnership with the US Navy.

And on her decks next year, September 2^nd, we will recognize the 75^th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

But for today, let us wish Mighty Mo a heartfelt Hauoli La Hanau, Happy Birthday, and many more to come!

Mahalo, and I yield back.