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.

Pearl Harbor Ambushed in Sunday Morning Attack 82 Years Ago Today

by HB Auld, Jr. (reprinted from this Weblog earlier)

Eighty-two years ago today on December 7, 1941, Imperial Japan attacked the neutral United States with a surprise Sunday morning ambush on naval bases at Pearl Harbor, HI.

During the unprovoked assault on the United States, aircraft from the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service killed 2,403 US citizens and injured 1,178 others. It also sank four battleships and damaged four others, damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, and one minelayer. Additionally, 188 aircraft were destroyed and another 159 planes were damaged.

“…a date which will live in infamy….”
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt

The following day, US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appeared before Congress and, declaring the previous day “…a date which will live forever in infamy…,” requested that Congress declare war against Japan. Congress quickly complied and the United States entered World War II hostilities against Japan.

My own father, HB Auld, Sr., was already serving in the US Army when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and spent the remainder of his military service fighting the Japanese on the island of New Guinea.

My father-in-law, JB Kattes, enlisted in the US Army on December 11, 1941, four days after the surprise attack, and served in the US Army in Washington, Alaska, and Georgia until the end of the War.

God bless all of the men and women who served and all of those who gave their lives in Pearl Harbor and elsewhere in the War.

ALWAYS REMEMBER: THAT DAY IN DECEMBER: God bless America!

Pearl Harbor Ambushed 79 Years Ago Today

by HB Auld, Jr.

Seventy-nine years ago today on December 7, 1941, Imperial Japan attacked the neutral United States with a surprise Sunday morning ambush on naval bases at Pearl Harbor, HI.

During the unprovacated assault on the United States, aircraft from the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service killed 2,403 US citizens and injured 1,178 others. It also sank four battleships and damaged four others, damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, and one minelayer. Additionally, 188 aircraft were destroyed and another 159 planes were damaged.

The following day, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt appeared before Congress and declaring the previous day “…a day which will live forever in infamy….” requested that Congress declare war against Japan. Congress quickly complied and the United States entered World War II hostilities against Japan.

My own father, HB Auld, Sr., was already serving in the US Army when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and spent the remainder of his military service fighting the Japanese on the island of New Guinea.

My father-in-law, JB Kattes, enlisted in the Army four days after the surprise attack, on December 11, 1941, and served in the Army in Washington, Alaska, and Georgia until the end of the War.

God bless all of the men and women who served and all of those who gave their lives in Pearl Harbor and elsewhere in the War.

God bless America!