This past December 7 marked a sad milestone: no Pearl Harbor survivors were able to attend the memorial service in Hawaii. One survivor, Ira “Ike” Schab, had planned to attend but had to cancel due to illness.
Now we've learned Schab has passed away at the age of 105.
World War II Navy veteran Ira "Ike" Schab, one of the dwindling number of survivors of the 1941 Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, has died, according to his daughter. He was 105. https://t.co/qKJZTOAbEp pic.twitter.com/6udSEnzmj4
— ABC News (@ABC) December 21, 2025
World War II Navy veteran Ira “Ike” Schab, one of the dwindling number of survivors of the 1941 Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, has died. He was 105.
Daughter Kimberlee Heinrichs told The Associated Press that Schab died at home early Saturday in the presence of her and her husband.
With his passing, there remain only about a dozen survivors of the surprise attack, which killed just over 2,400 troops and propelled the United States into the war.
Schab was a sailor of just 21 at the time of the attack, and for decades he rarely spoke about the experience.
But in recent years, aware that the corps of survivors was dwindling, the centenarian made a point of traveling from his home in Beaverton, Oregon, to the annual observance at the Hawaii military base.
Schab was born July 4, 1920, in Chicago, Illinois. He joined the Navy at 18, following in his father's footsteps. He was the eldest of three brothers.
He was 21 years old and assigned to the USS Dobbin as a musician and sailor. He played the tuba in the ship's band. On December 7, he was expecting a visit from his brother, who was assigned to the nearby naval radio station. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Schab helped pass ammunition ot the anti-aircraft guns. He remembered going topside on his ship and seeing the USS Utah capsizing as Japanese warplanes filled the sky.
"We were pretty startled. Startled and scared to death,” Schab would later recall. “We didn’t know what to expect, and we knew that if anything happened to us, that would be it."
Three sailors on the USS Dobbin died during the attack.
After WWII ended, Schab studied aerospace engineering and worked as an electrical engineer for General Dynamics, where he worked on NASA's Apollo space program.
Schab had made a point to travel from his home in Beaverton, Oregon to Pearl Harbor owing to the dwindling number of survivors.
"To pay honor to the guys that didn't make it," Schab said in 2023. Last year, he spent weeks building up the strength to be able to stand and salute at the memorial services.
With Schab's passing, fewer than a dozen Pearl Harbor survivors remain. On December 7, outlets said there were a dozen survivors; Schab's passing means there are now 11 remaining.
Fair winds and following seas, Sailor.
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