Posted on 12/07/2021 9:08:36 AM PST by j.havenfarm
80 years after the day that will live in infamy, let’s remember the men who lost their lives on the USS Arizona. I’m so privileged that one of the two remaining Arizona survivors, Lt. Cmdr. Lou Conter (Ret.) has become a dear friend. I attended his 100th birthday celebration in September, and visited him recently. He’s doing great, but the rigors of traveling to Hawaii and attendance at the public observances would be a bit much. As I do every Pearl Harbor Day, I offer my son’s 2017 Eagle Scout project video biography of Mr Conter. https://youtu.be/T_L0kWTqPiA
Wow! You must be very proud of your son and this wonderful project. And how amazing to hear that the subject is thriving at 100. When you communicate with your friend, Lt. Cmdr. Lou Conter, tell him some no-real-account out there on the internets is really glad to make his acquaintance and wants to thank him for his service!
Mark
THANK YOU for posting this.
Can we remember the men on the forgotten ship too?
The USS Utah
Requiscat in Pace.
Regards,
When the USS West Virginia was sunk, she settled upright in just 36 feet of water. Most of her superstructure was above the waterline and accessible but there still were crewmen onboard who had been trapped below the waterline by bomb damage.
She wasn’t refloated until May 17, 1942. Seventy bodies were inside. Three that bore no sign of injury were found together in a compartment that had remained airtight and dry, along with a calendar that had had the days scratched off up to the 23rd of December, 1941.
For most of those 16 days, sailors working day and night to rescue the living and clear the wreckage could hear a rhythmic hammering coming from the Wee-Vee’s hull, a reminder that there was at least one crewmember still alive, still awaiting rescue.
Sailors and Marines alike avoided going anywhere near that wreck site, especially at night, because they knew what that clanging meant. Nearby Marine guards would stand their post with their fingers in their ears.
A battleship’s hull is deliberately made as impenetrable as possible. The Wee-Vee’s belt armor was at least 8” thick, so even if they could have isolated the location of the trapped men and sent down hard hat divers to cut them out, it would have taken far too long from the time they first breached the hull until they could cut a hole big enough for a man to escape through to leave even the remotest chance of rescuing them rather than drowning them in the process.
There was no hope of rescue until she was raised, and no hope of that for some months.
The three men were:
Ronald Endicott, age 18, from Skykomish, Washington.
Clifford Olds, age 20, from Stanton, North Dakota.
Louis “Buddy” Costin, age 21, from southern Indiana.
Buddy had joined up when he was 17. They found a waterlogged ladies watch in his locker. Shipmates recalled that he’d bought it intending to give it to his mother for Christmas. When it eventually made its way to his mother, she had it repaired and wore it every day until she died in 1985 at age 92.
In time some leaned the truth through unofficial means but none of their families were told how they really died.
There were women who were killed in that dastardly attack, also. And don’t forget the harrowing experience of the Nurses at the hospital.
Not quite. The Utah still lies where she sank in shallow water. There’s a memorial but it’s not open the the public. The Oklahoma was not repairable and sank in a storm while being towed to San Francisco to be scrapped. I think you’re right as to all others
I may have gotten that information from this outstanding video:
The Battle Of Midway 1942: Told From The Japanese Perspective (1/3)
Do we remember the men of the USS Liberty on June 8th every year? It seems like they got forgotten.
Here we take it seriously.
My Uncle was on USS Vestal that day...…...
My late neighbor Cliff Davis was in Pearl Harbor on that day. It was very difficult for him to talk about...
My uncle is still MIA WWII. Bless all of those who fought, all of those who died...
Stuart, Florida.
Use to be an Albertsons here where the West Marine is.
I worked maintenance there.
I went by a gent with a lovely Older lady, noticed he had a navel cap on.
Said U.S.S. Ininapolis. I walked by him and said, “Thank you for your service., Sir.”
He broke down crying
That went down the memory hole very quickly. Our friends, you see.....
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