Lou Conter, the last survivor of the USS Arizona, the battleship that sank after the Japanese attack on the American base at Pearl Harbor, died at the age of 102, the charity that honors the victims of the bombing reported on Monday (1st). .
Conter was a 20-year-old officer when he helped rescue his Navy colleagues on Dec. 7, 1941, after the United States Pacific Fleet was targeted in the surprise attack.
The bombing, which thrust the United States into World War II, damaged or destroyed most of the fleet at the Hawaiian naval base and killed more than 2,000 Americans.
More than 1,100 people aboard the USS Arizona have died. Many of the bodies are still inside the sunken vessel.
“This is a heartbreaking loss,” said Aileen Utterdyke, president and CEO of Pacific Historic Parks, the nonprofit honoring those killed in the attack.
“Lou Conter personified what it meant to be part of the Greatest Generation, Americans whose collective valor, achievements and sacrifices saved our country from tyranny,” he added.
“He had an exemplary career in the Navy and was steadfast in imploring schools, parents and ordinary Americans to always remember Pearl Harbor,” he concluded.
Pacific Historic Parks detailed on its Facebook page that Conter passed away this Monday at his home in Grass Valley, California, accompanied by his family.
Conter became a pilot in World War II and was shot down twice, including off the coast of New Guinea, where he and his crew came ashore in shark-infested waters.
As an intelligence officer, he flew combat missions in Korea and created the Navy’s first SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Extraction) program, which teaches how to survive and “return with honor” in survival scenarios.
He was a military advisor to Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
(AFP)
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