USS Oklahoma Memorial: Mission accomplished
Giving voice to granddads many never got to meet

By John Greiner | Published: December 7, 2007 Comment on this article

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Lisa Ridge, whose grandfather was killed on the USS Oklahoma, is shown Thursday on the shore in Hawaii. By John Clanton, The Oklahoman

About the USS Oklahoma

The USS Oklahoma had a crew of about 1,000 and suffered the second-highest loss of life at Pearl Harbor. Here are some other facts about the ship:

•The ship was commissioned in 1916.

•It escorted President Wilson on voyages to France during peace negotiations after World War I.

•It was later modernized (left top).

•The ship capsized at Pearl Harbor after being hit by four Japanese torpedoes (left bottom); 429 men on the ship were trapped and killed.

•The ship was raised from the harbor in 1943.

•It sank while being towed to California in 1946.

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A teacher from Indiana, Ridge will be among the speakers at today's noon dedication of the memorial to the 429 who died on the ship on Dec. 7, 1941.

Between 800 and 1,000 people — many of them Oklahomans — are expected to be at the ceremony.

Ridge's grandfather, Petty Officer Paul Andrews Nash, was 26 when he died in Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.

Her grandmother wouldn't talk much about him, Ridge said.

"It really was hard for Granny to talk about it,” Ridge said. "My mother told me some things.”

Ridge's mother had died in 2001. Her grandmother died Dec. 6, 2006, while Ridge was at Pearl Harbor for the groundbreaking for the memorial.

A sister-in-law told Ridge, "Your granny wanted to be with your mom to watch you at the groundbreaking,” said Ridge, whose home is in New Lebanon, Ind.

A part of history

Ridge has been to Oklahoma City twice in the past year in connection with USS Oklahoma events.

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