One of the Last Remaining Pearl Harbor Survivors Dies at 105

One of the last remaining survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor has died at age 105.

Ira “Ike” Schab, a Navy veteran who served during World War II, died on Dec. 20, according to his daughter, Kimberlee Heinrichs, who confirmed the news to the Associated Press. His passing leaves only about a dozen survivors of the devastating Dec. 7, 1941, attack still alive. An estimated 2,400 U.S. service members were killed, and the assault prompted the United States to officially enter World War II.

Born July 4, 1920, in Chicago, Schab was the oldest of three brothers. He was 21 when Pearl Harbor was attacked. In 2021, he returned to the site on the 80th anniversary. To help make the trip possible, Heinrichs organized a GoFundMe that raised $15,000 in two months. She traveled with Schab and his caregivers to Hawaii in December 2021.

At the time, Schab said he felt grateful for the people who donated and described himself as humbled by their generosity.

After enough money was raised for the journey, Heinrichs — a nurse — wrote on GoFundMe, “It means so much to go back. To be there. And to still stand.”

Schab was also the last surviving member of his Navy band unit after the death of fellow bandmate Lee Ousley in 2015.

“I’d rather it not be that I’m last,” he said in an interview several years ago. “I wish there were still some of us going.”

In recent years, Schab lived in Oregon. He arrived at Pearl Harbor — in O’ahu, Hawaii — about a year before the attack, traveling aboard the USS Dobbin as a member of Navy Band Unit 13.

“I got out of high school and couldn’t find a job,” Schab said in 2021, explaining why he enlisted. He had been a musician since he was about 6, he said, and his father encouraged him to try the Navy. Schab went through the interview process, attended music school, and became a Navy musician.

A year later, he would witness one of the most pivotal moments in American history.

Asked what he remembers most about the morning of the attack — which began just before 8 a.m. local time — Schab summed it up in a single word: “Terror.”

“We didn’t know what [was happening],” he recalled. “I looked up and saw a Japanese — I don’t know whether he was a fighter or anything like that — but I was scared. I got really worried about whether we were going to survive.”

In later years, Schab often spoke about what he hoped younger generations would take from his long life: embrace it fully, and don’t waste it on bitterness.

“There’s no reason to be sour or disgruntled for any reason at all,” he said. “It’s a great world, great life. And I believe that the optimist is the guy that has something in his grip and he’ll never let go.”

His message stayed simple: “Just be positive. Don’t ever let yourself go sour or negative or anything like that. Even though a lot of the world around you may be negative, don’t contribute to that. Always go to the optimistic side of your life.”