Pearl Harbor’s 84th anniversary honors fallen, reflects on 80 years since WWII’s end

Marking the 84th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, this year’s "Building Pathways to Peace" commemoration reflects on the war that began here in 1941 while urging a renewed commitment to the values and vigilance needed to sustain lasting peace.

According to Pacific Historic Parks, 2025 marks a milestone year, coming 80 years after the end of World War II—a conflict that began for the U.S. at Pearl Harbor and whose sacrifices and hardships continue to shape the nation’s understanding of peace.

Attack on Pearl Harbor 

The backstory:

Imperial Japan launched a devastating Sunday morning surprise attack on the U.S. Navy and other military assets at Pearl Harbor, rousing a "sleeping giant" and thrusting an enraged America into World War II, on this day in history, Dec. 7, 1941.

The savage raid by aircraft carrier-borne warplanes sunk or damaged 21 U.S. warships — including the USS Arizona and USS Oklahoma — destroyed or damaged 347 aircraft, and killed 2,403 Americans. 

"Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan," President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced with determined indignation the following day, while asking Congress for a declaration of war. 

Last survivor died in 2024

Why you should care:

The last living survivor of the USS Arizona battleship that exploded during the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor died last year. 

Lou Conter, who was 102, passed away in his California home from congestive heart failure, Louann Daley, his daughter, told the Associated Press. 

Conter was a quartermaster who stood on the main deck of the Arizona when Japanese planes flew overhead on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941. 

Conter recalled how one bomb penetrated steel decks 13 minutes into the battle and set off over 1 million pounds (450,000 kilograms) of gunpowder stored below. 

"Guys were running out of the fire and trying to jump over the sides," Conter said. "Oil all over the sea was burning." 

His autobiography "The Lou Conter Story" recounts how he joined other survivors in tending to the injured, many of whom were blinded and badly burned. The sailors only abandoned ship when their senior surviving officer was sure they had rescued all those still alive. 

RELATED: Pearl Harbor survivor Richard Higgins, one of few remaining, dies at 102

After Pearl Harbor

Dig deeper:

Conter went to flight school after Pearl Harbor, earning his wings to fly PBY patrol bombers, which the Navy used to look for submarines and bomb enemy targets. He flew 200 combat missions in the Pacific with a "Black Cats" squadron, which conducted dive bombing at night in planes painted black. 

In 1943, he and his crew had to avoid a dozen sharks after they were shot down near New Guinea. A sailor expressed doubt they would survive, to which Conter replied, "baloney." 

"Don’t ever panic in any situation. Survive is the first thing you tell them. Don’t panic or you’re dead," he said. They were quiet and treaded water until another plane came hours later and dropped them a lifeboat. 

In the late 1950s, he was made the Navy’s first SERE officer — an acronym for survival, evasion, resistance and escape. He spent the next decade training Navy pilots and crew on how to survive if they’re shot down in the jungle and captured as a prisoner of war. Some of his pupils used his lessons as POWs in Vietnam. 

Conter retired in 1967 after 28 years in the Navy. 

In his later years, Conter became a fixture at annual remembrance ceremonies in Pearl Harbor that the Navy and the National Park Service jointly hosted on the anniversaries of the 1941 attack. When he lacked the strength to attend in person, he recorded video messages for the audience and watched remotely from his home in California.

In 2019, when he was 98, he said he liked going to remember those who lost their lives.

"It’s always good to come back and pay respect to them and give them the top honors that they deserve," he said.

Though many treated the shrinking group of Pearl Harbor survivors as heroes, Conter refused the label.

"The 2,403 men that died are the heroes. And we’ve got to honor them ahead of everybody else. And I’ve said that every time, and I think it should be stressed," Conter told The Associated Press in a 2022 interview at his California home.

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