Ira ‘Ike’ Schab, one of last remaining Pearl Harbor survivors, dies aged 105 | US military
A World War II veteran who was among the last survivors of Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 died Saturday.
Ira “Ike” Schab, who was serving in the US Navy at the time of the bombing, was 105 years old, according to one report. expression From the USS Arizona Memorial, which pays tribute to the military members killed at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
A statement from the memorial said that Schab “passed peacefully with his family, listening to swing music” while at his home in Oregon. His death left only a dozen or so survivors of the surprise attack that killed more than 2,400 U.S. soldiers and preceded the country’s entry into the second world war.
He attended the 83rd commemoration ceremony of the attack in 2024. However, due to recent health issues, he was unable to attend the 84th commemoration ceremony and instead watched the ceremony on live broadcast.
Schab, a Chicago native, was a 21-year-old Navy musician aboard the USS Dobbin when the Japanese launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The memorial’s description stated that he spent the morning helping supply ammunition to the anti-aircraft gunners.
“We were pretty surprised, startled and scared to death,” Schab described a day in 2023 that he had originally planned to spend with his brother, who was serving at a nearby marine radio station. “We didn’t know what to expect. We knew if anything happened to us, it would be this.”
Navy records to show It was said that three sailors who had anti-aircraft guns on Schab’s ship were killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor. One was killed during the engagement and two later died from fragment wounds caused by a bomb striking Dobbin’s stern.
Schab spent much of the subsequent war with the navy in the Pacific, including the New Hebrides, today known as Vanuatu; Mariana Islands; and Okinawa, Japan.
After the war, he became an electrical engineer and worked on the Apollo spaceflight program that sent U.S. astronauts to the moon. His son later joined the navy and retired as a commander.
It was important for Schab to travel from his home in Oregon to the attack site for the ceremonies held there each year. “To honor those who didn’t make it,” he said in 2023.
He spoke at the Pearl Harbor ceremony in 2022, imploring those in attendance to honor all those who took part in the attack.
“They did a great job,” he said.
