LOS ANGELES, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Lou Conter, the final survivor of the USS Arizona, the battleship that was sunk during the World War II attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, died on Monday at the age of 102.
Conter died at his home Monday morning in Grass Valley in U.S. state of California, said Pacific Historic Parks, a leading non-profit organization that supports the USS Arizona Memorial and other Pacific historic locations, in a statement.
Conter's daughter Louann Daley said the World War II veteran was surrounded by family and passed peacefully, the statement added.
Conter was a 20-year-old quartermaster who helped rescue fellow crewmen during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the morning of Dec. 7, 1941. A total of 1,177 fellow Arizona crew members were killed that day, most of them still entombed on the ship with their names etched on the USS Arizona Memorial, according to the statement.
The veteran was among the 335 Arizona crew members to survive the Pearl Harbor attack, and he outlived all of them, said the statement.
Conter's military service continued after the Pearl Harbor attack, and he went on to become a VP-11 Black Cat pilot. He survived two shoot-downs in World War II, including one off the coast of New Guinea in which the crew was surrounded by sharks.
Aileen Utterdyke, president and CEO of Pacific Historic Parks, noted in the statement that "This is a heartbreaking loss."
Utterdyke pointed out that Conter had an exemplary career in the U.S. Navy and was steadfast in imploring the schools, parents and everyday Americans to always remember Pearl Harbor.
