At the age of 102, Lou Conter, the sole survivor of the USS Arizona battleship that was destroyed and sunk during the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese, has passed away. This news comes as the last living witness of the tragic event in Honolulu.
According to his daughter, Louann Daley, Conter passed away on Monday at his residence in Grass Valley, California due to complications from congestive heart failure.
In the 1941 attack that resulted in the United States’ entry into World War II, the USS Arizona suffered the loss of 1,177 sailors and Marines. These casualties, which account for almost half of the total casualties in the surprise attack, were aboard the battleship.
On the morning of December 7th, as Japanese planes flew above the USS Arizona, Quartermaster Conter stood on the main deck. The sailors were in the process of raising the flag when the attack commenced.
Conter has recounted the memory of the history making attack in interviews over the years. Conter has talked about a bomb that pierced through steel decks, causing over 1 million pounds of gunpowder stored below to detonate just after 13 minutes.
According to an interview archived by the Library of Congress, the ship was lifted approximately 30 to 40 feet out of the water by the explosion. In the account, the area from the mainmast to the front of the ship was engulfed in flames.
Conter witnessed his fellow servicemen fleeing the blaze, attempting to leap over the edges, into the sea which was ablaze with oil.
The USS Arizona remains at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, off the Hawaiian coast in the same location where it initially sank. Close to 900 sailors and Marines are still trapped inside the wreckage.
Following the events of Pearl Harbor, Conter continued his career in serving our country. He enrolled in flight school and obtained his pilot’s license to operate PBY patrol bombers for the Navy’s search for submarines and attacks on enemy locations. He completed 200 missions in the Pacific as part of the “Black Cats” squadron, known for their nighttime dive bombing operations in black-painted planes.
During the latter part of the 1950s, he was appointed as the Navy’s inaugural SERE officer, which stands for survival, evasion, resistance and escape. For ten years, he instructed Navy pilots and crew members on techniques for surviving in the event of being shot down in the jungle and taken as a prisoner of war. A number of his students applied his teachings while held as POWs during the Vietnam War.
After 28 years of service in the Navy, Conter retired in 1967.
Conter became a regular presence at the yearly memorial services held at Pearl Harbor to commemorate the 1941 attack. When he was unable to attend in person due to his declining health, he would record video messages for those who were present at the event or watching from his residence in California.
Despite being hailed as heroes by many, Conter never accepted the label of hero. During a 2022 interview at his residence in California, Conter emphasized the importance of commemorating the 2,403 men who lost their lives, stating that they are the true heroes and should be honored above all others.
