Just after 11 a.m. Hawaii time on June 4, Rachel Chmiel of Atlanta, Georgia, was welcomed as the 4 millionth visitor aboard the USS Missouri.

Michael Carr, president and chief operating officer of the Battleship Missouri Memorial, showered gifts upon the milestone visitor, including a U.S. flag that Chmiel and her children helped raise over the “Mighty Mo”. Other Oahu attractions and companies joined the Missouri in congratulating the visitor with gifts.

Visiting Hawaii with her husband, Tim Saviello, and their two children, Chmiel and her family have several ties to Hawaii and the military. Chmiel’s father served in the U.S. Navy; Tim Saviello was born on Oahu at Tripler Army Medical Center, where his father worked as a doctor; and his sister-in-law, Erin Saviello, is currently serving in the U.S. Air Force.

The first phase of a new USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center is open to visitors. It includes a new bookstore an education and research center, a snack bar, administrative offices and ticketing facilities for all the other World War II-era attractions. These include the USS Arizona Memorial: the USS Bowfin Museum, USS Missouri Memorial and Pacific Aviation Museum-Pearl Harbor.

The new center is designed to improve the visitor experience and comfort. A 23-minute movie about the Pearl Harbor attack will be shown in temporary facilities until the primary facility for the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center is complete.