This past February, HHF visited the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific as a consulting party to the American Battle Monuments Commission* (ABMC). Our role was to inspect the proposed limestone that would be used to repair the memorial walls which have been marred by staining, corrosion and vandalism. We also discussed the installation technique and maintenance issues, and provided a third-party review of the prospective plan. We had reported back at that time that the selected material and plan provided an appropriate solution for restoring the Memorial!
Courts of the Missing – damaged walls
Fast forward to September—and the project at the Courts of the Missing needed to repair damage at the Memorial is now underway. Our visit to the site this past Friday was very exciting!
Construction lead Michael Gangloff and his team at Mira Image Construction have begun the process of engraving the names of those missing in action from World War II and the Korean conflict.
Did you know each limestone slab at the Courts of the Missing weighs over 300 pounds? The work being done is intricate yet mammoth as each slab is moved by a specialty hydraulic lift.
In sets of eight, the stones are placed in the engraving machine, which measures the depth and level of each stone. Each letter is engraved by a diamond bit, controlled by precision lasers and meticulous programming. Calibration takes about four hours, with another four hours to engrave each stone.
Pre-construction work included multiple checks of the names and other identifiers, such as branch of service, rank and home state of those being honored at the Memorial. This is no small task as there are eight Courts of the Missing on which are inscribed the names of the 18,096 American World War II missing from the Pacific and 8,200 American missing from the Korean War. Indeed, this important Memorial is visited by thousands each year, many with personal ties to the missing.
We look forward to our next visit to view installation which is expected to begin in early 2017!
*The ABMC is a federal agency responsible for honoring American armed forces where they have served, and for controlling the construction of military monuments and markers on foreign soil by others. ABMC administers, operates and maintains on foreign soil 25 permanent American burial grounds, and 27 separate memorials, monuments and markers, including three memorials in the United States. The Honolulu Memorial (located in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific on Oahu) is one of these.