Melissa Halterman/Arizona Summer Wildcat The bell that now hangs at the Student Union Memorial Center is the very same that once hung from the bridge of the U.S.S. Arizona. The U.S.S. Arizona was sunk at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Bell from U.S.S. Arizona saved from the melting pot decades ago

Wilber Bowers is tired. He is not tired of work, although he just retired last March. He is not tired from his long, adventurous life, although he did just celebrate his 100th birthday.

Wilber Bowers is tired of telling "the story" öö the story about how he saved the bells from the U.S.S. Arizona before their impending demise half a world away.

But after some simple prodding, Bowers opened up, displaying a sense of pride in the University of Arizona that would make anyone from the school envious.

In 1944, during his time as an Army captain, Bowers was stationed in Puget Sound, Washington. He was searching for a metallic bowl while stationed there and eventually made his way to the Bremerton Shipyards. He was directed to a nearby melting station.

"They said, ÎWe don't have a bowl, but we've got these bells,'" he said. "I didn't want any bells, but I thought I'd take a look anyway."

The shipyard officials brought him over to a box and opened it. Bowers said he could not believe his eyes. Inside the box were the two bells that were at one time affixed to the U.S.S. Arizona, one of the ships sunk at Pearl Harbor four years earlier.

"There was no way that I was going to let those bells get melted down," he said. "I couldn't believe nobody knew what they were or where they were from."

Bowers purchased the bells from the shipyard and held on to them for nearly a year. In 1946 he donated one bell to the UA and one bell to the Pearl Harbor Memorial in Hawaii.

In November 1951, the bell that Bowers gave to the university was finally rung for the first time from its perch on the newly built Memorial Student Union, sounding off a tradition that has endured to the construction of the new Student Union Memorial Center. When construction was completed in 2002, the University of Arizona Alumni Association contacted Bowers in Colorado to attend the bell ringing ceremony. He was the first person to ring the U.S.S. Arizona bell and regaled UA alumni and undergraduates with stories about his life.

"I just couldn't miss that," he said. "I was so proud to hear it again."

Bowers has not returned to the UA since the Alumni Association flew him out in 2002. He has enjoyed his life in Colorado as a commercial photographer, which he finally retired from after 51 years. His resume displays a lifetime of achievement, and his connection to the UA has yet to subside.

Bowers graduated in 1925 with a degree in education and business. During his time as an undergraduate, Bowers was active in the now defunct dance band, The Arizona Collegians, and once led a trip to Asia in 1925. He was also a member of Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity.

"Some of the best times in my life," Bowers said of his undergraduate years.

Now his legacy rings through each time the U.S.S. Arizona bell is rung on campus.

The bell is rung every major holiday and after times of significant university achievement. On Nov. 4, the bell was rung to honor the three College of Nursing professors who killed Oct. 28.

Although he does not plan to return to the UA because of travel and health issues, Bowers said he will always cherish his time spent there and is happy that his legacy will continue to hang above the UA Mall.