Lou Conter of Grass Valley at Pearl Harbor (credit: Reuters)
About 2,400 Americans died on December 7, 1941 when Japan attacked the U.S. Pacific fleet. In two hours more than 20 ships were sunk or damaged and 165 planes destroyed. President Roosevelt called Pearl Harbor “a date that will live in infamy.”
Our family and others heard a Pearl Harbor survivor, Lou Conter, speak at the Veterans Day ceremony at the Grass Valley Vets Hall just 3 1/2 weeks ago. Conter vividly remembered the day, sharing his memories.
This week the USS Arizona survivor and Grass Valley resident is at Pearl Harbor with his family, taking part in the remembrance ceremonies. Only 18 Arizona survivors are still alive, and seven traveled to Pearl Harbor.
Conter read the names of sailors who died aboard the USS Arizona during a tour of the Arizona Memorial.
“The 1,177 killed (on the USS Arizona) that day, we’re the ones who are here for them,” Conter told Scripps Media from the Memorial. “It’s always a sad day when you go aboard the memorial.”
In his comments at the Vets Hall last month, Conter drew an eerie analogy: He likened the Kamikaze attacks at Pearl Harbor to the terrorists who crashed planes into the World Trade Center on 9/11.
On Friday our family is going to visit the 9/11 Memorial during a long weekend trip to New York City. Mr. Conter has helped frame the visit for us.
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When I lived in Hawaii (Oahu) they would play the radio broadcast of December 7, 1941 every year. My Aunt/ Uncle got married a couple days after and then he was shipped out. He went on to win the Silver Star.
During the Bush years proponents of the Iraq invasion would like to compare WWII/ Roosevelt era with al qaeda/ Bush administration. They usually didn’t know that Germany and Italy declared war on the US on December 11, 1941. Pre-emptive and defensive are completely different military actions.