Elvis Presley raised $65,000 for USS Arizona Memorial before it opened in 1962

In 1961, Elvis Presley raised $65,000 towards the USS Arizona Memorial, helping support the project that would honour those who died aboard the battleship at Pearl Harbor. The memorial was completed that year and officially dedicated in 1962. Its 184-foot structure stretches across the sunken USS Arizona.According to National Park Service, the memorial stands above the battleship that became the final resting place for more than 900 of its 1,177 crewmen who died on December 7, 1941. The USS Arizona remains beneath the structure, while the memorial gives visitors a place to remember those who lost their lives during the Pearl Harbor attack.The idea for a memorial emerged during the Second World War. Initial suggestions were made as early as 1943, but it took several years before concrete steps were taken to create a permanent tribute.