World War II Navy veteran Ira “Ike” Schab, one of the dwindling number of survivors of the 1941 Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, has died. He was 105.
Daughter Kimberlee Heinrichs told The Associated Press that Schab died at home early Saturday in the presence of her and her husband.
With his passing, there remain only about a dozen survivors of the surprise attack, which killed just over 2,400 troops and propelled the United States into the war.
Schab was a sailor of just 21 at the time of the attack, and for decades he rarely spoke about the experience.
But in recent years, aware that the corps of survivors was dwindling, the centenarian made a point of traveling from his home in Beaverton, Oregon, to the annual observance at the Hawaii military base.
“To pay honor to the guys that didn’t make it,” he said in 2023.
For last year's commemoration, Schab spent weeks building up the strength to be able to stand and salute.
But this year he did not feel well enough to attend, and less than three weeks later, he passed away.
Born on Independence Day in 1920 in Chicago, Schab was the eldest of three brothers.
He joined the Navy at 18, following in the footsteps of his father, he said in a February interview for Pacific Historic Parks.
On what began as a peaceful Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, Schab, who played the tuba in the USS Dobbin’s band, was expecting a visit from his brother, a fellow service member assigned to a nearby naval radio station. Schab had just showered and donned a clean uniform when he heard a call for fire rescue.
He went topside and saw another ship, the USS Utah, capsizing. Japanese planes roared through the air.
“We were pretty startled. Startled and scared to death,” Schab recalled in 2023. “We didn’t know what to expect, and we knew that if anything happened to us, that would be it.”
He scurried back below deck to grab boxes of ammunition and joined a daisy chain of sailors feeding shells to an anti-aircraft gun above.
His ship lost three sailors, according to Navy records. One was killed in action, and two died later of fragment wounds from a bomb that struck the stern. All had been manning an anti-aircraft gun.
Schab spent most of the war with the Navy in the Pacific, going to the New Hebrides, now known as Vanuatu, and then the Mariana Islands and Okinawa, Japan.
After the war he studied aerospace engineering and worked on the Apollo spaceflight program as an electrical engineer for General Dynamics, helping send astronauts to the moon.
Schab's son also joined the Navy and is a retired commander.
Speaking at a 2022 ceremony, Schab asked people to honor those who served at Pearl Harbor.
“Remember what they’re here for. Remember and honor those that are left. They did a hell of a job,” he said. “Those who are still here, dead or alive.”
FILE - Pearl Harbor survivor Ira Schab, right, is saluted by various members of the armed forces as he leaves the 75th Anniversary National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day Commemoration on Kilo Pier at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Eugene Tanner, File)
FILE - Ira Schab, right, who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor as a sailor on the USS Dobbin, talks with reporters while sitting next to his son, retired Navy Cmdr. Karl Schab, on Dec. 7, 2022, in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy, File)
FILE - An attendee asks Pearl Harbor survivor Ira "Ike" Schab, 103, to sign an U.S. flag during the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australians will light candles at 6:47 p.m. on Sunday (7:47 GMT) to collectively commemorate the moment the first shots rang out a week earlier at Sydney’s Bondi Beach in an attack on a Jewish festival that left 15 dead.
The federal and New South Wales state governments have declared Sunday a national Day of Reflection, a week after Australia’s worst mass shooting since 35 died in Tasmania state in 1996.
Indigenous leaders held a traditional smoking ceremony on Sunday morning at the waterfront Bondi Pavilion, where an impromptu memorial has grown over the past week as flowers and heartfelt messages have accumulated. The memorial is to be cleared on Monday.
Rabbi Levi Wolff expected thousands would gather at Bondi later Sunday to honor the victims and show solidarity for the Jewish community.
“Australians appreciate that this is an attack that wasn’t just against the Jewish people — we’re an easy target — but this is an attack on the Australian values and they will come here and they will stand together with us shoulder-to-shoulder as they have over the last week to tell the people in this country that there is no tolerance for hate. Violence has no place in our beautiful country,” Wolff told Nine Network television at the memorial.
Last Sunday, two gunmen opened fire on the Hanukkah celebration on the first day of an eight-day Jewish holiday.
Health department authorities said 13 of those wounded at Bondi remained in Sydney hospitals on Sunday.
They include alleged gunman Naveed Akram, 24, who was shot by police. He has been charged with 15 counts of murder and 40 counts of causing harm with intent to murder in relation to those wounded.
His father Sajid Akram, 50, was shot dead by police at the scene.
Flags are flying at half-staff on Sunday on government buildings, which will be lit in yellow on Sunday night in a show of solidarity with the Jewish community.
Television and radio networks have also been asked to pause for a minute’s silence at 6:47 p.m.
Rabbi Eli Feldman said the wider Australian community was invited to join Jews at Bondi to observe the last full day of Hanukkah, which ends at sundown on Monday.
“The Jewish community, together with all of our Australian friends, are all invited to come and light the eighth candle here and show that light will always overcome darkness,” Feldman told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said victims’ families felt “tragically, unforgivably let down” by government failures to combat a growth in antisemitism in Australia since the war between Israel and Hamas began in 2023.
“I’ve spent time with the families of the victims. They’re just in a bewildered state. They’re still in shock. They don’t know what to do with themselves, let alone contemplate moving forward and healing,” Ryvchin said.
“There’s a lot of anger in the community now as well. I think we’re cycling through the various emotions, the various stages, and there’s a real feeling of having been let down and betrayed. And the community wants answers and we want change,” he added.
Australian and Aboriginal flags fly at half staff on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during a National Day of Reflection to honour the victims of the last Sunday's terrorist attack at Bondi Beach, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Australian and Aboriginal flags fly at half staff on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during a National Day of Reflection to honour the victims of the last Sunday's terrorist attack at Bondi Beach, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Australian and Aboriginal flags fly at half staff on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during a National Day of Reflection to honour the victims of the last Sunday's terrorist attack at Bondi Beach, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
