World War II began for the United States with the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and ended in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, with the sinking of the USS Arizona and the Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri standing as the conflict’s two most striking reminders. As a tribute to United States servicemen and servicewomen who sacrificed their lives during the war, a 14-inch gun barrel from the USS Arizona and a 16-inch barrel from the USS Missouri serve as visible bookends to the conflict, while steel pillars shaped like a battleship hull honor the 1,902 Arizona men and women who died during World War II. The 14-inch gun barrel from the USS Arizona, barrel #41L3, was not on the ship when it sank, because it had been relined and then placed on the USS Nevada, where it later participated in D-Day and Operation Dragoon. Distances of 608 feet and 887 feet from the center flagpole east of the anchor to markers identified as BB-39 and BB-63 represent the lengths of the USS Arizona and the USS Missouri from bow to stern, and nine sets of blue steel pillars represent the nine minutes it took the USS Arizona to sink after bombs from Japanese aircraft struck it.