The Lou Conter Story

The Lou Conter Story PDF Author: Louis A. Conter
Publisher: Wheatmark, Inc.
ISBN: 1627878602
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 231

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Book Description
The Lou Conter Story: From USS Arizona Survivor to Unsung American Hero tells the incredible story of one of the last remaining survivors of the USS Arizona. More than just a recollection of the events that transpired in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, this book also records the author's memorable experiences before and after the Day of Infamy. Conter was on the USS Arizona deck when a Japanese armor-piercing bomb hit one million pounds of gunpowder stored in the ship's hull. He helped rescue crewmen following the explosion and dove into the wreckage to recover bodies in the days after. In 1942, Conter went to flight school where he earned his wings and became a VP-11 Black Cat pilot. He helped rescue over two hundred Australian Coastwatchers stranded in northern New Guinea and was shot down twice -- once swimming with his crew while sharks circled. Conter also helped rescue over two hundred Australian shore watchers up the Sepik River in New Guinea. After World War II, he became an intelligence officer, flew combat in Korea, created the Navy's first SERE program (survival, evasion, resistance, and escape), and served as a military advisor to presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson. Lou Conter shares his Pearl Harbor experiences with high school students throughout Northern California, and he returns to the USS Arizona every December to take part in National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day activities to honor and remember the 2,403 service members and civilians who were killed during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor. In 2019, Conter was one of only three remaining crew members out of the 335 who had survived the attack on the USS Arizona. He was the only survivor able to attend the memorial event.

The Lou Conter Story

The Lou Conter Story PDF Author: Louis A. Conter
Publisher: Wheatmark, Inc.
ISBN: 1627878602
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 231

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Lou Conter Story: From USS Arizona Survivor to Unsung American Hero tells the incredible story of one of the last remaining survivors of the USS Arizona. More than just a recollection of the events that transpired in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, this book also records the author's memorable experiences before and after the Day of Infamy. Conter was on the USS Arizona deck when a Japanese armor-piercing bomb hit one million pounds of gunpowder stored in the ship's hull. He helped rescue crewmen following the explosion and dove into the wreckage to recover bodies in the days after. In 1942, Conter went to flight school where he earned his wings and became a VP-11 Black Cat pilot. He helped rescue over two hundred Australian Coastwatchers stranded in northern New Guinea and was shot down twice -- once swimming with his crew while sharks circled. Conter also helped rescue over two hundred Australian shore watchers up the Sepik River in New Guinea. After World War II, he became an intelligence officer, flew combat in Korea, created the Navy's first SERE program (survival, evasion, resistance, and escape), and served as a military advisor to presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson. Lou Conter shares his Pearl Harbor experiences with high school students throughout Northern California, and he returns to the USS Arizona every December to take part in National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day activities to honor and remember the 2,403 service members and civilians who were killed during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor. In 2019, Conter was one of only three remaining crew members out of the 335 who had survived the attack on the USS Arizona. He was the only survivor able to attend the memorial event.

All the Gallant Men

All the Gallant Men PDF Author: Donald Stratton
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062645374
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
The New York Times bestselling memoir of survival and heroism at Pearl Harbor “An unforgettable story of unfathomable courage.” —Reader’s Digest In this, the first memoir by a USS Arizona sailor, Donald Stratton delivers an inspiring and unforgettable eyewitness account of the Pearl Harbor attack and his remarkable return to the fight. At 8:10 a.m. on December 7, 1941, Seaman First Class Donald Stratton was consumed by an inferno. A million pounds of explosives had detonated beneath his battle station aboard the USS Arizona, barely fifteen minutes into Japan’s surprise attack on American forces at Pearl Harbor. Near death and burned across two thirds of his body, Don, a nineteen-year-old Nebraskan who had been steeled by the Great Depression and Dust Bowl, summoned the will to haul himself hand over hand across a rope tethered to a neighboring vessel. Forty-five feet below, the harbor’s flaming, oil-slick water boiled with enemy bullets; all around him the world tore itself apart. In this extraordinary, never-before-told eyewitness account of the Pearl Harbor attack—the only memoir ever written by a survivor of the USS Arizona—ninety-four-year-old veteran Donald Stratton finally shares his unforgettable personal tale of bravery and survival on December 7, 1941, his harrowing recovery, and his inspiring determination to return to the fight. Don and four other sailors made it safely across the same line that morning, a small miracle on a day that claimed the lives of 1,177 of their Arizona shipmates—approximately half the American fatalaties at Pearl Harbor. Sent to military hospitals for a year, Don refused doctors’ advice to amputate his limbs and battled to relearn how to walk. The U.S. Navy gave him a medical discharge, believing he would never again be fit for service, but Don had unfinished business. In June 1944, he sailed back into the teeth of the Pacific War on a destroyer, destined for combat in the crucial battles of Leyte Gulf, Luzon, and Okinawa, thus earning the distinction of having been present for the opening shots and the final major battle of America’s Second World War. As the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack approaches, Don, a great-grandfather of five and one of six living survivors of the Arizona, offers an unprecedentedly intimate reflection on the tragedy that drew America into the greatest armed conflict in history. All the Gallant Men is a book for the ages, one of the most remarkable—and remarkably inspiring—memoirs of any kind to appear in recent years. *Library Journal

Descent Into Darkness

Descent Into Darkness PDF Author: Edward C. Raymer
Publisher: Naval Inst Press
ISBN: 9781591147244
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
A Navy salvage diver recounts his experience in the effort to save the lives of sailors trapped in sinking ships after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Pearl Harbor Survivors

Pearl Harbor Survivors PDF Author: Harry Spiller
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786411791
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
On December 7, 1941, Japan waged a surprise attack on the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor. It was a major victory for the Japanese Navy, which in less than two hours destroyed 188 American planes, damaged another 159, and sunk or seriously damaged 18 U.S. warships. The battleships Arizona and Oklahoma were sunk. The battleships California, West Virginia and Tennessee were badly damaged and would not rejoin the United States fleet for months. Over 2,400 American military personnel were killed and 1,178 were wounded. The Japanese lost 29 planes and pilots, five midget submarines and one large sub with their crews. Here are 24 personal accounts of servicemen who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor. These accounts cover in detail the location of each man and his experience during and after the actual attack. Also included is general information about Pearl Harbor.

Complete Story of Sadako Sasaki

Complete Story of Sadako Sasaki PDF Author: Masahiro Sasaki
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN: 1462921698
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 119

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Book Description
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Adrenaline, Excitement and Fear

Adrenaline, Excitement and Fear PDF Author: Jack Holder
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781631730221
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Jack Holder was at Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. This his story of his adventures during WWII. He served in the Navy in the Pacific as well as the Atlantic during the war.

Brothers Down

Brothers Down PDF Author: Walter R. Borneman
Publisher: Little, Brown
ISBN: 0316438871
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
A deeply personal and never-before-told account of one of America's darkest days, from the bestselling author of The Admirals and MacArthur at War. The surprise attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 remains one of the most traumatic events in American history. America's battleship fleet was crippled, thousands of lives were lost, and the United States was propelled into a world war. Few realize that aboard the iconic, ill-fated USS Arizona were an incredible seventy-nine blood relatives. Tragically, in an era when family members serving together was an accepted, even encouraged, practice, sixty-three of the Arizona's 1,177 dead turned out to be brothers. In Brothers Down, acclaimed historian Walter R. Borneman returns to that critical week of December, masterfully guiding us on an unforgettable journey of sacrifice and heroism, all told through the lives of these brothers and their fateful experience on the Arizona. Weaving in the heartbreaking stories of the parents, wives, and sweethearts who wrote to and worried about these men, Borneman draws from a treasure trove of unpublished source material to bring to vivid life the minor decisions that became a matter of life or death when the bombs began to fall. More than just an account of familial bonds and national heartbreak, what emerges promises to define a turning point in American military history.

Countdown to Pearl Harbor

Countdown to Pearl Harbor PDF Author: Steve Twomey
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1476776482
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
"A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter chronicles the 12 days leading up to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, examining the miscommunications, clues, missteps and racist assumptions that may have been behind America's failure to safeguard against the tragedy, "--NoveList.

The Men of the USS Arizona (BB-39)

The Men of the USS Arizona (BB-39) PDF Author: T. J. Cooper
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781490964119
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 586

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Book Description
On Sunday, December 7, 1941, shortly before 8 a.m. the men on board the USS Arizona were preparing for Sunday morning services, planning shore leave, writing letters home and visiting with shipmates. Little did they know that the day's events would forever change their lives. As the Japanese attacked, this quiet morning turned into a nightmare many would carry with them the rest of their lives. Many more would not survive the devastating attack. "General Quarters" was sounded and the men scrambled for their battle stations. Within minutes, the men were firing back at the swarm of Japanese planes. Facing, fires, black smoke, explosions and the continual strafing from the Japanese planes, these men remained at their respective battle stations. Many died instantly when a bomb went through the after deck and landed in the black powder room igniting a huge explosion and an immense fire ball that traveled throughout the ship. Faced with badly burned men wandering about on deck, those men that survived the initial explosion, heroically helped evacuate the wounded all the while dodging the bullets from the attacking planes and the fires roaring about them. By this time, the fuel oil from the ship's tanks had escaped and covered the water around the ship. This oil promptly caught fire making "abandon ship" into a treacherous deed. Many of those that jumped were caught up in the fires and fuel oil. This made it impossible to swim to safety. This book is a memorial to the men that were serving on the USS Arizona that fateful morning. Who were these men and what did they experience. This is their story.

Hard Charger!

Hard Charger! PDF Author: James A Treadway
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 0595360092
Category : Vietnam War, 1961-1975
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
Hard Charger is the story of a Cold War cruiser, the USS Biddle (DLG-34), the last Navy cruiser powered by conventional steam, the last of the single-ended guided missile frigates, the last ship of her class, but the first on the front lines. Biddle's story is traced from when her combat systems were conceived soon after the end of World War II and then designed and built during the 50's and 60's, to her construction, commission, shakedown, combat assignments in Vietnam, her battle at PIRAZ, overhauls, upgrades, training exercises and cruises to the North Atlantic and Mediterranean, and finally her decommissioning. The story is told by the officers and men who served aboard her - captains and deckhands, technicians and engineering officers, chiefs petty officers, plankowners and her decommissioning crew. Though Biddle is gone, her remarkable story remains, as does the freedom she helped protect. Historians, those currently involved with Navy combat systems, and those who served aboard a similar ship or during the Cold War will find Biddle's story interesting and thought provoking. Hard Charger is the only book written about Biddle or any Belknap class cruiser.