On Saturday, December 7, 2024, in Honolulu, Pearl Harbor survivors Ken Stevens, 102, of Powers, Oregon, second from the left, and Ira “Ike” Schab, 104, of Beaverton, wait before the 83rd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day event begins.Lin Mengshin | AP
Hawaii’s Pearl HarborIra Ike Schab, a 104-year-old Beaverton resident who survived the Pearl Harbor attack, spent six weeks in physical therapy to gain the strength he needed to stand and salute during a commemoration ceremony honoring those killed in the Japanese bombing that sparked the United States into World War II approximately 83 years ago.
Schab carefully got out of his wheelchair on Saturday and raised his right hand in answer to a salute from sailors on a submarine and a warship that were going through the harbor. He had two supporters: a son and a daughter.
It was a privilege to do so. He later remarked, “I’m glad I was able to stand up.” You see, I’m becoming old.
Schab is one of just two service members who survived the attack to attend the annual commemoration, which is held on a grass field with a view of the harbor and is organized by the National Park Service and the U.S. Navy. Due of health concerns, a third survivor who had intended to join them had to postpone.
Over 2,300 American service members were killed in the bombing on Dec. 7, 1941. The USS Arizona, which sank during the engagement, contained 1,177 sailors and Marines, or about half. On the submerged ship, the remains of over 900 Arizona crew men remain interred.
In the past, dozens of survivors attended the ceremony, but as survivors have gotten older, their numbers have decreased.According to a list kept up to date by Kathleen Farley, the state chair of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors in California, there are currently only 16 survivors left. According to military historian J. Michael Wenger, on the day of the attack, there were around 87,000 military personnel on Oahu.
Earlier this year, Schab accepted the invitation from the ceremonial organizers to salute on behalf of all World War II veterans and survivors.
According to his daughter Kimberlee Heinrichs, who accompanied Schab from his Beaverton home to Hawaii, “He’s been working hard because this is his goal.” He wished he could stand for that.
At the time of the attack, Schab was a member of the USS Dobbin’s crew and played the tuba in the ship’s band. When he received the call for a fire rescue party, he had already taken a shower and changed into a clean outfit.
When he rushed topside, he saw the USS Utah capsize and Japanese planes flying overhead. A daisy chain of sailors fed shells to an anti-aircraft gun topside, and he hurried back below deck to join them.
Schab was accompanied at the occasion by Ken Stevens, 102, a veteran of the USS Whitney. Powers, Oregon, is where Stevens resides. Due to health concerns, 100-year-old USS Curtiss sailor Bob Fernandez was unable to attend.
The attack started eight decades ago at 7:54 a.m., and attendees observed a moment of silence at that time. Shortly thereafter, F-22 jets in missing man formation passed overhead.
In a phone conversation from California, where he resides in Lodi with his nephew, Fernandez recounted being taken aback and taken aback when the onslaught started.
Fernandez stated, “We didn’t know what’s going on when those things go off like that.” We were unaware that we were at war.
While waiting tables for breakfast that morning, Fernandez, a mess cook aboard the Curtiss, was tasked with bringing food and coffee to the sailors. Then there was a sound of alarm. Fernandez had a glimpse of a plane passing by via a porthole that had the red ball emblem painted on Japanese aircraft.
In order to start passing 5-inch, 38-caliber ammunition to the ship’s cannons, Fernandez hurried down three decks to a magazine room where he and other sailors waited for someone to open a door.
Over the years, he has told interviewers that when he heard gunshots overhead, several of his fellow sailors were crying and praying.
Fernandez remarked, “I was a little afraid because I had no idea what the hell was going on.”
A Japanese jet struck the ship’s cannons and collided with one of its cranes. According to the Navy History and Heritage Command, its guns struck a dive bomber shortly after, which crashed into the ship and detonated below deck, igniting the hangar and main decks.
Fernandez’s ship, the Curtiss, suffered injuries to about 60 of its crew and lost 21 men.
Although many people praise Pearl Harbor survivors as heroes, Fernandez doesn’t think of himself in that light.
He said, I’m not a hero. All I am is a passer of ammunition.
Written by Associated Press’s Audrey McAvoy
Terry Chea, a journalist for the Associated Press, contributed from Lodi, California.
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