Last night on NCIS, the long-running procedural series delivered a sort of history lesson for fans as the show focused on Pearl Harbor.
The series focused on a survivor from the U.S.S. Arizona at Pearl Harbor, who became the subject of an investigation by the team.
History on NCIS
Actor Christopher Lloyd guest-starred on NCIS as Joe Smith.
Smith was a survivor of the Pearl Harbor bombing that included the U.S.S. Arizona. He claimed that he was stationed aboard the ship and wanted his remains buried aboard it after he passed.
The only problem was that he had to prove he was actually stationed on the ship, to begin with.
According to co-executive producer Gina Lucita Monreal, they had wanted to do an episode about Pearl Harbor for a long time and when they got the chance, they struck gold with Christopher Lloyd.
“Obviously, there are not many 96-year-old actors, and especially if it’s a very demanding role,” said showrunner Frank Cardea. “There’s one scene where he had like a 4½-page monologue. So, Gina’s dream came true.”
According to Cardea, the episode was also a heavy one for Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon). He said Gibbs’ father was a World War II vet and he saw similarities between Joe and his dad.
“It allows him to understand Joe at a deeper level, but he also relates to Joe from the perspective of being a veteran and sometimes having it be hard to talk about what you saw,” Cardea said.
How many marines died on U.S.S. Arizona at Pearl Harbor?
The U.S.S. Arizona saw the deaths of 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors and Marines on board during the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
To this day, the ship marks the resting place for 1,102 sailors and Marines. However, there are more on the ship, added throughout the years.
While they were given the full military funeral, surviving crew members could request their bodies be cremated and placed in urns, delivered underwater to the sunken ship.
There have been more than 30 surviving crewmembers who chose the U.S.S. Arizona to be their final resting place, with the urns placed under one of the gun turrets.
Crew members who served on the U.S.S. Arizona before the Pearl Harbor attack also have an option as well, as their ashes can be spread above the site of the sunken ship