National Park Service awards $1.2 million to preserve sites including Pearl Harbor

The National Park Service has awarded $1,212,066.50 in Preservation Planning Grants through the American Battlefield Protection Program.

The 10 grant recipients will help preserve battlefields and other sites of armed conflict from the east coast of the U.S. mainland to Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, using these funds to conduct archeological site surveys, interpretive planning, and community outreach.

$140,043.85 was awarded to the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum for its project titled “Interpreting America’s WWII Aviation Battlefield” in Honolulu.

Another project funded by Preservation Planning Grants this year will conduct underwater archeology and 3D modeling of military ships and aircraft destroyed during the World War II Battle of Attu in Alaska.

Fought in frigid conditions, this 18-day struggle between American and Imperial Japanese forces in May of 1943 included the only land battle to be fought on North American soil during the war and, based on the number of troops engaged, was the second deadliest battle to occur in the Pacific Theatre.

The grant recipient, Ships of Exploration and Discovery Research, will use the data collected from the project to aid future interpretation efforts on the marine section of the battlefield and increase public awareness of this historic battle.

Other grant recipients include:

• $69,733.00 to Ships of Exploration and Discovery for their project titled “Capturing the Carnage of War” in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. 
• $117,714.00 to the Ridgefield Historical Society for their project titled “Battle of Ridgefield Phase II [Archeology]” in Fairfield County, Connecticut.  
• $131,450.00 to the Gulf Archaeology Research Institute for their project titled “[Researching] the Battle of Micanopy” in Alachua County, Florida.  
• $68,189.00 to the Maryland Historical Trust, for their project titled “Reconstructing the Revolution-Era Cultural Landscapes of the Washington-Rochambeau Military Encampments” in Cecil and Harford Counties, Maryland.  
• $149,858.00 to the Trustees of Dartmouth College for their project titled “Conflict and Contestation in Colonial Maine: Archaeological Investigations at Damariscove and Pemaquid” in Lincoln County, Maine. 
• $142,340.00 to the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources for their project titled “Searching for Spaces and Places 1781: General Greene Outmaneuvers General Cornwallis” and is a statewide project.  
• $147,151.00 to the Fort Ticonderoga Association for their project titled “Uncovering Liberty Hill: An American Soldiers’ Camp at Ticonderoga” in Essex County, New York. 
• $124,587.65 to the East Pikeland Township for their project titled “Continental Powder Works at French Creek – Phase II Archeological Survey” in Chester County, Pennsylvania.  
• $121,000.00 to the American Battlefield Trust for their project titled “Documenting American Indian Battlefields of the Great Sioux War of 1876-1877” and will take place in Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming.