Top Photo: Pearl Harbor survivor Ira "Ike" Schab Jr., who served on the USS Dobbin (AD-3), holds a model airplane at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport on December 3, 2024. Schab served as a musician in the US Navy band, and on the day of the attack acted quickly to provide ammunition to the gunners. US Navy photo by Jhewel Felipe 

The National WWII Museum mourns the loss of WWII veteran Ira “Ike” Schab, who passed away on December 20 at 105 years old. He was one of the last living survivors of the 1941 Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor.

Family members confirmed Schab's death to The Associated Press. With his passing, only about a dozen survivors of the attack remain.

Schab was born on July 4, 1920, in Chicago, Illinois. The eldest of three brothers, he joined the US Navy at age 18, following in the footsteps of his father. Schab was 21 years old and serving as a musician and sailor aboard the tender USS Dobbin when Japanese planes attacked the US Pacific Fleet anchored at Pearl Harbor.

In an oral history interview with the Pacific Historic Parks, Schab recalled getting dressed in his uniform and expecting a visit from one of his brothers when “all hell broke loose.” He recalled going topside and seeing a bomb blast and the USS Utah capsizing. He would spend the rest of the day assisting first aid efforts and helping pass ammunition for anti-aircraft guns.

US forces were unprepared for the surprise attack, and in less than 90 minutes, Japanese planes had destroyed or damaged 19 American warships and 300 aircraft. More than 2,400 American servicemembers and civilians were killed in the attack, including three sailors aboard Schab’s ship. Almost half of those killed were crewmen from the battleship USS Arizona, which sank within minutes after a bomb struck its forward magazine, igniting more than a million pounds of ammunition.

The Associated Press reports that Schab served most of the war in the Pacific, including Vanuatu, the Mariana Islands, and Okinawa. After the war, he studied aerospace engineering and worked on the Apollo spaceflight program as an electrical engineer for General Dynamics.  

In 2023, Schab spent weeks building up his strength to stand and salute at the annual commemoration ceremony at Pearl Harbor. He was unable to attend the 2025 ceremony due to illness.