Lou Conter, the last known survivor of the U.S.S. Arizona, which was sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, died at the age of 102 at his home in Grass Valley, Calif. The attack on Pearl Harbor led to the United States entering World War II. Conter, a quartermaster on the Arizona, was on duty when the ship was hit by a Japanese armor-piercing bomb that caused a giant fireball and destroyed the ship. He helped tend to survivors, recover bodies, and put out fires after the attack, with only 93 of those aboard the ship surviving. Conter later became a Navy pilot, flying combat missions in the Pacific during the war.
Following his experiences on the Arizona, Conter attended Navy flight school and flew 200 combat missions in the Pacific, receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross for his bravery in rescuing Australian coast watchers. He also flew combat missions during the Korean War and served as an intelligence officer on a Navy aircraft carrier group. After retiring from the Navy in 1967, he worked as a real estate broker and developer in Los Angeles. Conter was born in Wisconsin and joined the Navy in 1939, reporting for duty on the Arizona in 1940. His wife, Valerie, passed away in 2016, and he had six children and many grandchildren.
Conter’s home in Grass Valley was filled with memorabilia from the Arizona, including a piece of wreckage. He honored the memory of his shipmates and all Americans killed on Pearl Harbor Sunday by paying homage to them daily. Despite being one of the last survivors of the attack, Conter refused to be called a hero, insisting that the true heroes were the 2,403 men who died in the attack. He participated in annual memorial services at Pearl Harbor until 2020, when he was no longer able to due to age-related limitations.
The U.S.S. Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor commemorates the crewmen who lost their lives in the attack, resting place of 1,102 of those killed. The memorial, built in 1962, hovers over the sunken hull of the Arizona without physically touching it. It is visited by millions of people yearly and serves as a poignant reminder of the events of December 7, 1941. President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously called that day “a date which will live in infamy” when he asked Congress for a declaration of war against Japan. Conter’s death came nearly a year after the passing of the second-to-last survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack, Ken Potts.
