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teacher of history |
Lou Conter died Monday at the age of 102. He was the last remaining survivor from the Arizona. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/0...Z5Oj0&smid=url-share I was at Pearl 4 years ago and bought a USS Arizona hat that I wear daily. It is for the men who perished on December 7 and the survivors. One other survivor died last year. | ||
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Official Space Nerd |
Another sad milestone. I met Donald Stratton; at the time, one of 5 USS Arizona survivors. I have a photo of the Arizona with his autograph hanging on the wall in my office. Fear God and Dread Nought Admiral of the Fleet Sir Jacky Fisher | |||
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Still finding my way |
Sad. I was thinking about WWII vets the other day. Say they were 18 and joined at the end of the war (1945) that would make the youngest of them 97 this year. Talk with any of them you can and hear their stories first hand before it's gone to history. | |||
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| Staring back from the abyss  |
One of the first patients I ever took care of as an active duty medic working in an AF hospital was a WW2 vet who was at Normandy. I worked nights and I'd sit in his room and listen to stories for half the shift. What a great old guy. It's funny, I remember thinking he was so old, and at the time he was only in his early 60s...pretty close to me now. Ouch.  ________________________________________________________ "Great danger lies in the notion that we can reason with evil." Doug Patton. | |||
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His Royal Hiney |
Somehow, I found it funny he attended flight school afterwards. Probably figured up in the sky was safer than being on the water. I've been wondering what rank he was. He was obviously an officer. But, yes, being the last of his group, with rights to be buried with his shipmates. I still remember the somberness of being on that memorial. Until the sea give up its dead, rest in peace. "It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946. | |||
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| Official Space Nerd |
I think there was an NCIS episode where Christopher Lloyd played a vet claiming to be an Arizona survivor. Gibbs was having none of it, as EVERYBODY assumed he was a stolen valor crackpot. Lloyd, as usual, put in an AMAZING performance, recounting the events of that day, convincing Gibbs that he was legit. At the end of the episode, they interred his ashes in the Arizona's hull. There was an old legend that oil would seep from Arizona's bunkers until the last survivor died. Fear God and Dread Nought Admiral of the Fleet Sir Jacky Fisher | |||
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always with a hat or sunscreen |
In the picture at the link the OP posted you'll see a gold oak leaf on his hat signifying the rank of O-4 (LCDR).  Certifiable member of the gun toting, septuagenarian, bucket list workin', crazed retiree, bald is beautiful club! USN (RET), COTEP #192 | |||
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| Member |
In 2022 I got to hang out with a 102 year old survivor of the USS Oklahoma which was sunk at Pearl Harbor. He was reassigned to the USS Mahen which was sunk in 1944. He had two boats blown out from beneath him. We met at the Veterans Day parade in Albany Oregon. He asked me “well, I’m 102 now, you suppose I’ll be here next year?” To which my reply was “You’ve made it 102 rotations around the sun, why not go for a few more victory laps.” They don’t make them like they used to. It was a total honor to meet him. | |||
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| Coin Sniper |
A shame... the last living piece of that history, has now passed into history. I was at Pearl Harbor in 2018. The last thing I did before leaving was purchase a flag that had been flown over the Arizona Memorial. Oddly enough, the paperwork lists Memorial Day as the date it flew. May LCDR Conter rest in honor with is valiant shipmates. Pronoun: His Royal Highness and benevolent Majesty of all he surveys 343 - Never Forget Its better to be Pavlov's dog than Schrodinger's cat There are three types of mistakes; Those you learn from, those you suffer from, and those you don't survive. | |||
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| Green grass and high tides  |
What a life. It has been a long time since we made it out to the AZ memorial. But it is something one should try to do if at all possible. It is an amazing place. God Speed Sir. "Practice like you want to play in the game" | |||
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| half-genius, half-wit |
Over here in UK the oldest member of our village Thursday Club - 98 y/o Cecil Deller, late of the Sussex Regiment, and a D-Day veteran, recently passed away from cancer. He was driving right up to a couple of weeks before he passed away, and was a pillar of our twin villages, a constant source of delight and a gifted agriculturist. There were over four hundred people at his funeral - the small 12th century church was packed, and many had to stand outside. RIP Private C Deller. | |||
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