Northern California World War II veteran and retired Lieutenant Commander Lou Conter is officially the last living survivor of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
As the last living survivor of Pearl Harbor at age 101, Conter was honored by California Governor Gavin Newsom.
District 2 Supervisor and Board Chairman Ed Scofield delivered the governor’s letter to Conter in June: “Lieutenant Commander Conter has served our country well.”
“It is a true honor to present this letter from our California governor to Lou,” Scofield said in the document.
For his part, Representative Kevin Kiley also honored Conter, saying that: “My constituent, Commander Lou Conter, is the last survivor of Pearl Harbor’s USS Arizona.”
Kiley described Conter as “a hero in every sense of the word” who selflessly helped evacuate his crewmates during the attack on Pearl Harbor.
In a publication On Twitter, Kiley shared a statement that Conter had previously shared about the heroism of the American service members who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor.
“The 2,403 men who died are the heroes,” Conter said. “And we have to honor them before everyone else.”
According to the Nevada County news release, Conter first enlisted in the Navy in 1939 before being stationed on the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Conter was one of 334 members of the USS Arizona who survived the attack, while more than 1,000 service members on the ship were killed.
The veteran served 28 years of active duty in the United States Army, fighting in three different wars and serving as an aide to Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, before retiring in 1968.
The event featured a flyover by a World War II aircraft and was attended by Kiley and Republican State Sen. Brian Dahle, who presented certificates of appreciation to the World War II veteran.
Keep reading:
American warship sunk by “kamikaze bomb” during World War II found in Japan
· They identify the remains of a US marine who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941
Vladimir Putin assures that the Western countries have declared war on Russia
