Ira “Ike” Schab, a second world war veteran and one of the last survivors of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, has died at the age of 105. He passed away on Saturday at his home in Oregon, according to a statement from the USS Arizona Memorial.
Schab was a 21-year-old navy musician aboard the USS Dobbin when Japan launched its surprise attack on 7 December 1941. He spent that morning helping to provide ammunition to anti-aircraft gunners. “We were pretty startled – startled and scared to death,” he recounted in 2023.
The attack killed more than 2,400 US troops and led to America’s entry into the second world war. Three sailors on Schab’s ship were killed. His death leaves only about a dozen survivors of the attack.
After the war, Schab became an electrical engineer and worked on the Apollo spaceflight program. He regularly attended Pearl Harbor commemorations, saying it was important “to pay honor to the guys that didn’t make it”. He attended the 83rd commemoration in 2024 but watched the 84th via live stream due to health issues.
