FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEOUTSTANDING VOLUNTEERS HONORED FOR THEIR SERVICETO PERPETUATE THE USS MISSOURI’S LEGACY
Pearl Harbor, HI – (February 17, 2014) – Since the day the retired USS Missouri was permanently berthed in Pearl
Harbor on June 22, 1998, its caretaker, the USS Missouri Memorial Association, has relied on dedicated volunteers
to help perpetuate the legacy of America’s last and most famous battleship.
The Association announced today that a special group of individuals and organizations have been honored withawards (see list below) for the time and energy they have devoted as volunteers to the Battleship Missouri Memorialin 2013.
“We congratulate these awardees and are extremely grateful to all of our volunteers for their tireless motivation ingiving back to the Missouri and helping to make it a world-class historical attraction,” said Michael Carr, President &COO of the Battleship Missouri Memorial. “Our volunteers are absolutely essential to the daily upkeep and operationof the Battleship Missouri Memorial and being able to share it with visitors. They bring to us a diverse array ofexpertise and help ensure that this legendary battleship is being supported and cared for from top to bottom.”Carr added that the Missouri’s legion of volunteers donated a total of 43,622 hours worth of service in 2013, equaling
7,238 days and valued at nearly $800,000 in in-kind support. The volunteer work ranges from the never-ending
maintenance of the gigantic battleship to serving as tour guides and helping with the opening of new exhibits.
“All non-profit organizations depend on volunteers, and the Battleship Missouri Memorial is no exception,” noted
Keven Williamson, Director of Volunteers for the Battleship Missouri Memorial. “We value the dedication and hard
work by all of our volunteers, and consider them an incredible asset to the preservation of the Mighty Mo and all thatit stands for.”
The awardees being recognized for 2013 include Young Kim, who was presented the Truman Centennial Award as
the most outstanding senior volunteer. Mr. Kim has been a volunteer at the USS Missouri for the past nine years andspends each Saturday sharing the Mighty Mo’s history with visitors as a tour guide. Of Korean descent, Mr. Kim wasborn and raised in Japan, living there as a child during World War II. He immigrated to America as a young man andserved in the United States Air Force. The combination of his international background and military service allows Mr.
Kim to provide visitors with a unique perspective of the Missouri’s rich background.
An engraved, polished plaque was presented to each awardee recognizing their dedication and service. The plaques
carried special significance as they were made from pieces of the Missouri’s famed teak wood decks that wereremoved as part of its ongoing maintenance, with some of the teak dating back to the 1990s when the battleship waslast in service.
Battleship Missouri Memorial Volunteer Awards
USS Missouri Memorial Award – Trevor BellasTrevor Bellas was honored for being the most outstanding volunteer of the year. Trevor put in more than 500 hours ofservice in 2013, spending time every weekend to work on projects from shipboard to pier side. No task was too big,
too small, or too dirty for Trevor to handle.

Truman Centennial Award – Young Kim
Young Kim was recognized for being the most outstanding senior volunteer. Young spent his Saturdays volunteering
as a tour guide and providing meaningful lectures for private programs on the ship, including its Road Scholar
program (education travel). Retired from the U.S. Air Force, Young’s volunteerism and dedication is described as‘legendary’ by those who work with him.
Big Guns Award – Larry Elrich
Larry Elrich earned the award that is typically given to the Missouri’s most versatile volunteer. Any project that theMissouri team sent his way, Larry took it on with full force. He helped repair and restore many areas of the ship, andis currently working alongside the Collections Department on a number of special projects.
USS Missouri Memorial Association Legacy Award – NAVFACThis award is presented to an outstanding military person or command showing their commitment to volunteerism.
Volunteers from the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Hawaii (NAVFAC) provided much-needed technicalfacilities and engineering support to the maintenance of the Missouri.
Outstanding Group Support Award – Waipahu High School
A group of students from Waipahu High School consistently took the bus to and from school to help the Missouri staff
with repair and maintenance work. The students spent a great deal of time over many weeks polishing the brass andcleaning the wardroom and mess decks in appreciation and respect for the Mighty Mo.
Volunteer Group Awards
Groups of all ages and sizes lend a hand and donate their time and effort to volunteering at the Battleship Missouri
Memorial. Several groups were recognized for their unwavering commitment to making a difference aboard the USSMissouri.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Every Wednesday, a group of up to 20 enthusiastic volunteers put in many hours of hard work, painting,chipping rust, cleaning and scrubbing, and lifting heavy materials to help the ship’s staff. This group alone
accounted for more than 2,000 hours of volunteer work in 2013.
Kiwanis Key Clubs
Leilehua High School’s Key Club was honored as students showed their commitment to the Mighty Mo bypolishing brass and sweeping, swabbing, and cleaning the teak deck. Recognized were Key Club advisors
Kay Tokunaga and Roy Fujinaka, who have been bringing students to the ship each month for many years.
NIOC Hawaii
The Navy Information Operations Command Hawaii (NIOC) sends at least two-to-three groups each month tovolunteer aboard the Missouri. As one of the largest commands in Hawaii, NIOC is dedicated to preserving
the USS Missouri, pitching in to help wherever they are needed.
Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facilities
This group takes care of the Missouri as if it were their own ship. Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard andIntermediate Maintenance Facilities is Hawaii’s regional maintenance center for the U.S. Navy. It sends
groups to clean, paint and repair the Mighty Mo, ensuring it is always shipshape.
Naval Health Clinic Hawaii
Volunteers from Naval Health Clinic Hawaii, which serves active duty personnel and their families in addition
to retirees, tend to the several medical spaces onboard the ship to ensure they are up to Navy standards.
Chief’s Legacy Academy
The Chief’s Legacy Academy brings together, as a right of passage, sailors who have reached the rank of“Chief.” Sailors spend a week aboard the Missouri and learn from contemporaries on the finer points ofleadership. In return, newly inducted Chiefs lend a helping hand by pulling up old teak, scrubbing the deck,
and aiding in much needed heavy lifting around the ship.
Battleship Missouri Memorial
The Battleship Missouri Memorial is open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. General admission, which includes choice

of an optional tour, is $25 per adult and $13 per child (4-12). Military, kama‘aina (local resident) and school grouppricing is available. For information or reservations, call (toll-free) 1-877-644-4896 or visit USSMissouri.org.
The Battleship Missouri Memorial, located a mere ship’s length from the USS Arizona Memorial, completes ahistorical visitor experience that begins with the “day of infamy” and the sinking of the USS Arizona in Pearl Harborand ends with Imperial Japan’s surrender aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
Following an astounding career that spans five decades and three wars, from World War II to the Korean conflict tothe Liberation of Kuwait, the “Mighty Mo” was decommissioned and donated to the USS Missouri Memorial
Association, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, which operates the battleship as a historic attraction andmemorial.
The Association oversees her care and preservation with the support of visitors, memberships, grants and thegenerosity of donors.
###Please credit image to Battleship Missouri Memorial

Link to image: http://i.imgur.com/S5lAJuD.jpg
Caption: Young Kim (right) earned the Truman Centennial Award for being the Missouri's outstanding senior
volunteer in 2013. He displays his plaque with Keven Williamson, Director of Volunteers for the Battleship Missouri
Memorial.
Media Contact:
Patrick Dugan808-539-3411/808-741-2712
Patrick.Dugan@AnthologyGroup.com
Jaclyn Hawse(808) 455-1600 x246
JaclynH@ussmissouri.org