The Lauren F. Bruner USS Arizona Memorial Foundation is dedicated to honoring the crew of USS Arizona for future generations. We achieve our mission through three strategies:
Preserve
The Lauren F. Bruner USS Arizona Memorial Foundation aims to preserve the legacy of Arizona projects such as Dream Gift to America. The foundation's ultimate goal is to one day opening a museum in Hawaii to honor the crew of USS Arizona.
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Educate
The Lauren F. Bruner USS Arizona Memorial Foundation educates young Americans and the general public by sharing the story of the Attack on Pearl Harbor in ways never accomplished.
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Support
The Lauren F. Bruner USS Arizona Memorial Foundation's programs engage Navy families through outreach, meeting basic needs, and providing housing solutions.
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USS Arizona Medal of Freedom
Own an Iconic Piece of History
The USS Arizona Medal of Freedom was conceived by USS Arizona crew member and survivor Lauren F. Bruner, who was the "Second to the Last to Leave USS Arizona". Lauren's vision was to find a way to allow families throughout the world to preserve and pass down the legacy of his ship and crew for future generations. The steel "A" embedded on the front of the medal is authenticated steel from USS Arizona, which has been mixed into a stainless steel alloy so that it will never rust as it is passed down from one generation to the next.
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"Under the Stars" Veterans
In 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lauren Bruner Foundation, in collaboration with U.S.VETS, completed a project to provide face masks, along with new clothing,meal cards, and personal hygeine items to over 500 of Hawaii's Homeless Veterans. The foundation sold over 300 hand-made cotton face masks as a fundraiser for this program.
This program continues into 2022, as the foundation is now preparing to send backpacks, footwear, headwear, toothbrushes, and toothpaste to Hawaii's Homeless Veterans.
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Preserving History Through Technology
Protecting History in Ways Never Before Possible
In 2021, the Lauren Bruner Foundation launched its "Preserving History" program in partnership with Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence, the leader in 3D Scanning technology. Through this program, we were able create digital copies of historic artifacts across the country, creating an imprint of each artifact that will stand the test of time. These items ranged from artifacts as small as a 1-inch christening medallion given to dignitaries at USS Arizona's launch, to as large as a 55-foot-long gun barrel salvaged from the famed battleship.
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Second to the Last to Leave USS Arizona
The Most Detailed Account of the Attack on Pearl Harbor Ever Shared
Second to the Last to Leave USS Arizona is Lauren Bruner's personal memoir, which has been published by the foundation. It is a thrilling and captivating true-to-life account that reads like an epic novel, and has become the #1 Best Seller at Pearl Harbor. This book has been given five-star reviews by three USS Arizona survivors, and according to Rear Admiral Samuel Cox, Director of the U.S. Naval History & Heritage Command, the book "should be required reading for anyone seeking to commit Sailors into battle, and any officer or Sailor who might go into battle."
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Second to the Last to Leave - Japanese Edition
A Japanese Translation of the Most Detailed Account on Pearl Harbor
The Japanese translation of Second to the Last to Leave USS Arizona allows both Japanese visitors to Pearl Harbor and citizens of Japan to read Lauren Bruner's best-selling memoir. In 2013, Lauren Bruner gave a keynote speech at Pearl Harbor during International Peace Day, alongside Masahiro Sasaki, the brother of Sadako Sasaki who famously folded over 1,000 paper cranes as a symbol of innocent lives lost at war and the desire for peace. Lauren and Masahiro had become close personal friends, and the introduction to the Japanese release of Second to the Last to Leave is written by Masahiro himself. It has been Lauren's hope that sharing his story with the people of Japan might help send a message of peace, and help celebrate the friendship between the United States and Japan.
Coming Winter 2022
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Ghost of USS Arizona
A World War II History With an Imaginative Twist
Ghost of USS Arizona is a retelling of Lauren Bruner's story intended for a young adult audience. This book is history and fact interleaved with creative storytelling and imagination. The book features classic comic-style art throughout its chapters and tells the story of the Attack on Pearl Harbor in an engaging and relatable way.
Coming Early 2023
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Dream Gift to America
A USS Arizona Survivor's Last Dream to Honor His Crew
Lauren F. Bruner's Dream Gift to America is a research project that Lauren Bruner envisioned that involves the collecting and preserving photos and enlistment records, having biographies written, and finally having portraits drawn of each of the 1,512 crew members of USS Arizona to be presented as an immersive and interactive collection.
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See how crew member portraits will be completed from old photographs
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USS Arizona Hula
A Tribute to the Crew of USS Arizona
The USS Arizona Hula is the first hula to be dedicated to the crew of USS Arizona. The hula was commissioned by the Lauren F. Bruner USS Arizona Memorial Foundation,and was first performed in 2016 on Ford Island, Pearl Harbor at sunset, during the 75th Remembrance Celebration of the Attack on Pearl Harbor. The hula's accompanying song "Warriors of the Sea" was composed and performed by Hawaiian entertainer Joe Recca, a descendant of King Kamehameha, while the hula was chorographed and danced by his daughter Delys. The Arizona Hula is just one of the may ways Lauren Bruner and his foundation has worked to honor his crew.
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The Arizona Guard
The Arizona Guard is a program that is being established by the foundation to aid the 532 Homeless Veterans who now call Hawaii home. Through this program, each Veteran of this community will have the opportunity to get his life back together again and feel good about the re-servicing of his or her Military career to the country, and in particular, to all those who visit the state of Hawaii. The Arizona Guard has been created to allow these Veterans in the uniform of the service they were a member to protect and honor the relics of USS Arizona that will be displayed and shared with the public. It is the foundation's goal that each member of the Arizona Guard will be housed, fed, and rehabilitated in order that they feel good about themselves and become once again an active part of society.
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Copyright © MMXX Lauren F. Bruner USS Arizona Memorial Foundation. All rights reserved.
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