Arkansas's historical ties to the battleship USS Arkansas began when Wabbaseka resident Willie K. Hocker designed the Arkansas state flag so the state could present it to the commander and crew of the battleship USS Arkansas, a twenty-six-thousand-ton Wyoming-class battleship commissioned in 1912 that served the nation in two world wars. The ship saw combat in the Atlantic and Pacific, including action at Normandy, Cherbourg, and Southern France in 1944 and at Iwo Jima and Okinawa in 1945. After decommissioning, its final service came on July 25, 1946, as a target ship for nuclear weapons testing at Bikini in the Marshall Islands. The bond between Arkansas and the U.S. Navy continued beyond the ship through Arkansans serving on active duty, in the Navy Reserve, and in retirement, and through the enduring state flag design created to honor both Arkansas and its namesake vessel.