So many of the stories over the past week have been about those who gave their lives in the attack on Dec. 7, 1941, and those who survived.

This is a story of a veteran who had never been to Pearl Harbor and the Arizona Memorial, wanted to go just once before he died, and a bunch of Hawai'i folks who helped make it happen.

In April, Richard Ferris was working for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Virginia when he was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer, according to family and medical professionals who treated him.

It had been Ferris' lifelong dream to see the Arizona Memorial. The 55-year-old had served in the Air Force and spent his career working with veterans.

"He was very interested in history, and World War II was his main focus," said Rose Ann Ferris, Richard's wife. His father had been in the Navy during World War II.

"Pearl Harbor really touched him. He watched everything he could find on it, and he read book after book after book," Rose Ann said.

With the cancer diagnosis, Richard Ferris was told he probably had less than a year to live, and the Hawai'i visit took on a new urgency. The couple made the trip in late September.

Dr. James Ireland from Hawai'i Medical Center East, who treated Ferris, said from the outside, he looked well, but he had severe pain associated with his cancer, and was fitted with an internal morphine pump before coming to Hawai'i.

Rose Ann said the couple's primary purpose in coming was to see Pearl Harbor, but they started off the trip on Maui.

"We went to Maui first because we felt like he would need a couple days to recover (from the airplane trip)," Rose Ann said. "They said Maui was very low-key."

But while in Maui, Richard's pain became too great and he was hospitalized. A pain specialist at Hawai'i Medical Center East was consulted, and the decision was made to bring Richard by air ambulance to O'ahu for further treatment.

That's where Ireland really lent more than a healing hand.

"He (Ireland) had come into our hospital room and Richard was sitting there and he said, 'Well, I guess I'm just not going to get to see Pearl Harbor,' " Rose Ann said, "and I told him, 'Look, we came 6,000 miles for you to see Pearl Harbor, and I'm not going to leave here till you do.' "

Within a couple of hours, Ireland had all the arrangements made, Rose Ann said.

Ireland called the Hickam Fire/Emergency Services Department, where he also serves as the civilian medical director, and EMS Chief Paul Garrigan, along with emergency medical technicians Robert Robinson and Nick Miller, used a backup ambulance to get Richard Ferris to Pearl Harbor.

Ferris had told Ireland about his time with the Air Force security police.

"He recounted for us the cold sub-zero nights in North Dakota when he would stand guard over Air Force bombers," Ireland said.

With an IV hooked up and on a stretcher that folded into a chair, Ferris was able to see the poignant film that all Arizona Memorial visitors are shown, and then go out to the memorial itself on a launch.

"Some pain medicine had to be administered in the ambulance, but Mr. Ferris was otherwise reasonably comfortable and able to enjoy the visit," Ireland said.

The National Park Service and Navy helped to make the visit go as smoothly as possible.

"They were so accommodating to us — it was just amazing," Rose Ann Ferris said.

So what did Richard Ferris think of the Arizona Memorial?

"I asked him when we got back, and he said it was everything that he dreamed it would be," Rose Ann said.

Richard Ferris was in the hospital for the next week.

The Ferrises flew home on Oct. 12, and Richard died the following day.

LOWERED RENT FOR MISSOURI SOUGHT

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, wants the Navy to reduce the rents for nonprofit groups to run national memorials at Pearl Harbor including the battleship Missouri memorial, which he said pays more than $207,000 a year at Pearl Harbor.

"The nonprofit organizations that operate and maintain these living symbols of our nation's heritage are doing us all a great service." Abercrombie said.

Under federal law, the military may charge "fair market value" rent to nonprofits that lease military property to display war memorials, Abercrombie said. But those payments may be reduced if the secretary of a military department determines that "a public interest will be served as a result of the lease" and the fair market value of the lease is unobtainable, or not compatible with a public benefit, he said.

The Navy charges rent to the USS Missouri Memorial Association. According to Abercrombie, the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park's lease payment is only $1 a year, but it was set before the federal law allowing lease payments was established.

The USS Arizona and USS Oklahoma memorials are not affected because they fall under the National Park Service.

"The USS Missouri Memorial Association needs financial support, as it depends primarily on admission fees and donations to welcome 400,000 visitors annually on the battleship," Abercrombie said.

He added that the Missouri memorial is at no cost to the federal government and is free of charge for special military events such as re-enlistments.

Yet, the association pays a monthly rent of $17,300 while maintaining the battleship in accordance with Navy material standards, including high-cost repairs to preserve the hull, Abercrombie said.

Abercrombie said he is asking the secretary of the Navy to consider charging a nominal amount of rent to lessen the financial burden of preserving and maintaining "this important part of American history."

The Missouri has paid more than $1.5 million in rent since the original lease was signed in June 1998, Abercrombie said. The lease has been renewed twice for three-year periods with a third renewal coming up this year or in 2008. The lease fee was increased 12 percent in 2005 to adjust the charge to "fair market" rent.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.