Last Survivor of the USS Arizona Passed Away Today

[Passport1]

I thought this was especially poignant today as I met a WW2 vet in the parking lot at Walmart. He was alone. Had a 30 minute conversation with him. Name is John N., an army veteran. 97 years old. A black man from NC. Enlisted at Ft. Bragg. A radio man, joined right after the attack at PH. Very sharp and upright. For you Panther platform fans he was driving a pristine 2005 Mercury, 130K on the clock. I offered to buy it right there but he graciously declined.

Made me very proud of his generation.

Garrett on the Road

Lou Conter, last living USS Arizona survivor after Pearl Harbor attack, dies at 102

freerepublic.com

 

[BHopkins]

I thought this was especially poignant today as I met a WW2 vet in the parking lot at Walmart. He was alone. Had a 30 minute conversation with him. Name is John N., an army veteran. 97 years old. A black man from NC. Enlisted at Ft. Bragg. A radio man, joined right after the attack at PH. Very sharp and upright. For you Panther platform fans he was driving a pristine 2005 Mercury, 130K on the clock. I offered to buy it right there but he graciously declined.

Made me very proud of his generation.


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Garrett on the Road

Lou Conter, last living USS Arizona survivor after Pearl Harbor attack, dies at 102

freerepublic.com

I hope that it can be said by others, when and IF I am 97, that I am "very sharp and upright".

Sometimes I contemplate that the day is soon coming, only a few decades away, when not only are all those that lived through WWII will have passed on, but all of their children will also be gone. Everyone left will be separated by two generations from WWII.

That makes me wonder, will there be a loss of appreciation for the great sacrifices that were made to protect the freedoms that those of so many nations enjoy? And will they loose a sense of the terrible things that were done to others, because they were believed to be inferior? Will they forget, let alone understand why, that they were called "the greatest generation"?

I hope not. But I fear so.

 

[Malo83]

 

[dnewton3]

RIP

 

[Dave Hess]

RIP.