Month: April 2024

President Abraham Lincoln Dreams of His Own Death 159 Years Ago

By H. B. Auld, Jr.

One hundred and fifty-nine years ago today on April 4, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln dreamed of his own death, seeing himself laying in a casket. The same dream repeated two more nights. Ten days after his first dream, actor John Wilkes Booth assassinated the sixteenth President at Ford’s Theater. President Lincoln lingered on through that night, then died at 7:22 the next morning, April 15, 1865, in a boarding house across the street from Ford’s Theater.

Lincoln prophetically said: “If I am killed, I can die but once; but to live in constant dread of it, is to die over and over again.”

When he left for Ford’s Theater that Friday night, he told his body guard, William H. Crook, about the dreams. Then, he wished Crook “Good-bye” instead of his normal “Good night.”

May President Abraham Lincoln Rest In Peace for the ages.

Last Remaining Survivor of Sinking of the USS ARIZONA Dies at Age 102

by H. B. Auld, Jr.

The United States lost a true American hero yesterday, April 1, 2024. US Navy Lieutenant Commander Louis Anthony Conter (USN, Retired), the last remaining survivor of the sinking of the USS ARIZONA (BB 39) on December 7, 1941, died at the age of 102.

LCDR Conter joined the US Navy November 15, 1939. He completed Basic Training at Naval Training Station, San Diego, CA, and reported to the USS ARIZONA in January, 1940, as a Quartermaster Third Class.

The ARIZONA returned from patrol to Pearl Harbor, HI, on December 6, 1941, the day before the Japanese assault on the naval base the next morning.  On the day of the attack, Quartermaster Conter was on watch on the quarterdeck at 8 a.m.  The ship was struck by a 1,760-pound bomb and then a second bomb which raised the ship out of the water and blew the bow off of the ship.

Conter began aiding his wounded Shipmates when the order to abandon ship came from the ship’s captain.  Conter took to one of the lifeboats and began pulling injured men into his lifeboat before rowing to shore.  He later spent weeks recovering the bodies of the dead.  The ARIZONA sank in just nine minutes.  Almost 1200 of her crew died in the explosions and sinking.  Only 334 men from the ARIZONA survived the attack. 

After the attack, which President Franklin Delano Roosevelt rightly called, “…a date which will live in infamy….” Conter was selected for flight training.  He received his Naval Aviator wings as an enlisted Naval Aviation Pilot in November, 1942. 

He was shot down twice over the Pacific Ocean during his flight career, but managed to row ashore both times in a raft.   Later after being commissioned as a naval Ensign, he served in the New Guinea campaign and in Europe.  He transferred to the Naval Reserve following World War II, but later returned to active duty to serve during the Korean War and the Vietnam Conflict.  He retired as a Navy Lieutenant Commander in December, 1967. 

In civilian life, LCDR Conter co-authored his autobiography, From USS ARIZONA Survivor to Unsung American Hero, The Lou Conter Story, with Annette C. Hull and Warren R. Hull.

LCDR Conter became the last known survivor of the sinking of the USS ARIZONA in April, 2023, when Ken Potts, the other remaining survivor, died. The final survivor of the sinking of the USS ARIZONA, Navy LCDR Louis Anthony Conter, passed away at 102 on April 1, 2024, in Grass Valley, CA.