At 101, USS Arizona Survivor: Honor Heroes Killed in Attack

From the December 7, 2022, Chicago Tribune by Audrey McAvoy and Haven Daley, AP.

Honolulu

USS Arizona sailor Lou Conter lived through the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor even though his battleship exploded and sank after being pierced by aerial bombs.

That makes the now 101-year-old somewhat of a celebrity, especially on the 81st anniversary of the December 7, 1941, assault.  Many call him and the others in the nation's dwindling pool of Pearl Harbor survivors heroes.

Conter, however, rejects this characterization.

"The 2,403 men that died are the heroes.  And we've got to honor them ahead of everybody else.  And I've said that every time, and I think it should be stressed," Conter said in a recent interview at his Grass Valley, California, home north of Sacramento.

--GreGen