2 Pearl Harbor survivors return to Hawaii to honor those killed in 1941 attack
Dec 7, 2024, 2:30 PM
Pearl Harbor survivors, Ken Stevens, 102, of Powers, Ore., left, and Ira "Ike" Schab, 104, of Beaverton, Ore., wait for the start of the 83rd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Honolulu. (Mengshin Lin, Associated Press)
(Mengshin Lin, Associated Press)
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) — Ira “Ike” Schab, a 104-year-old Pearl Harbor attack survivor, spent six weeks in physical therapy to build the strength to stand and salute during a remembrance ceremony honoring those killed in the Japanese bombing that thrust the U.S. into World War II some 83 years ago.
On Saturday, Schab gingerly rose from his wheelchair and raised his right hand, returning a salute delivered by sailors standing on a destroyer and a submarine passing by in the harbor.
“He’s been working hard because this is his goal,” said his daughter, Kimberlee Heinrichs, who traveled to Hawaii with Schab from their Beaverton, Oregon, home so they could attend the ceremony. “He wanted to be able to stand for that.”
Schab is one of only two servicemen who lived through the attack who made it to an annual remembrance ceremony hosted by the U.S. Navy and National Park Service on a grass field overlooking the harbor. A third survivor had been planning to join them but had to cancel because of health issues.
What happened at Pearl Harbor?
The Dec. 7, 1941 bombing killed more than 2,300 U.S. servicemen. Nearly half, or 1,177, were sailors and Marines on board the USS Arizona, which sank during the battle. The remains of more than 900 Arizona crew members are still entombed on the submerged vessel.
Schab agreed when ceremony organizers asked him earlier this year to salute on behalf of all survivors and World War II veterans.
“I was honored to do it. I’m glad I was capable of standing up. I’m getting old, you know,” he said.
Schab was a sailor on the USS Dobbin at the time of the attack. He was the tuba player in the ship’s band. Schab had showered and put on a clean uniform when he heard the call for a fire rescue party.
He hurried topside to see Japanese planes flying overhead and the USS Utah capsizing. Schab quickly went back below deck to join a daisy chain of sailors feeding shells to an anti-aircraft gun topside.
Ken Stevens, 102, who served on the USS Whitney, joined Schab at the ceremony. USS Curtiss sailor Bob Fernandez, 100, had planned to attend but had to cancel due to health issues.
