"If you panic, you're dead": 1 of 2 living USS Arizona survivors details Pearl Harbor attack
GRASS VALLEY — On this 81st year since the attack on Pearl Harbor, there are two living survivors of the USS Arizona that sunk in the bombing that day.
One of them lives in Grass Valley and is now 101 years old.
Lou Conter spoke with CBS13 from his living room and described his vivid memories of that day that lives in infamy.
"Minute it happened, we sounded general quarters and they were in there and we blew up in about eight minutes, nine minutes," Conter said.
More than eight decades later, Conter can still describe, without hesitation, being on board the USS Arizona in that fateful moment that is seared into American history: the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
"Thirty-five, 40 minutes after that, we were pulling bodies out of the fire and laying them down and getting them ready to go to the hospital," Conter said.
He was 20 years old at the time.
There were 2,403 Americans killed in the attack, including many of Conter's shipmates on the Arizona. He said, through it all, he learned a valuable lesson about living through a crisis.
"You never, never panic, in any serious situation," Conter said. "If you panic, you're dead."
Conter's home now also serves as a shrine to the memory of that fateful day. Mementos, including a piece of the USS Arizona wreckage, hang on his wall.
We asked him about how he believes he made it off the ship alive.
"It just wasn't my time to go," Conter said.
Besides surviving Pearl Harbor, Conter also served in three wars. He flew 200 missions as a pilot and was shot down twice.
Somehow, he is here to tell all about it.
"Made it out, got home, married, had grandchildren, and here I am, 101 years of age going on 102, and my children are all watching me very closely," Conter said.
Conter said he decided not to visit Hawaii this year for the remembrance ceremony, but he and his family are planning to be back there next year.
The other living survivor of the USS Arizona is Ken Potts, who is also 101 years old and lives in Utah.