He was the last surviving crew member of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The battleship USS Arizona was destroyed by Japanese warplanes on December 7, 1941 during World War II.
The soldier was a young sailor who kept watch on the quarterdeck of the Arizona when Japanese bombers invaded the skies over the Hawaiian island of Oahu and attacked the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor.
Within minutes, Arizona itself burst into flames. Conter, then quartermaster third class, was among the few hundred fortunate men who emerged alive from the warship when it sank, taking 1,177 of its 1,400 crew to their deaths.
After abandoning ship, he and other survivors went to the port in small boats to recover bodies and fight fires that raged for three days.
The loss of life aboard the Arizona accounted for nearly half of the 2,390 Americans killed at Pearl Harbor and other sites around Oahu. The attack brought the United States into World War II.
Conter also became a pilot in World War II and was shot down twice, including off the coast of New Guinea, where he and his crew landed in shark-infested waters.
Tags: Death Louis Conter survivor attack USS Arizona Pearl Harbor led enter World War died
