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)2025-12-21T00:36:23Z 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 didnt make it, he said in 2023.For last years 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. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on On what began as a peaceful Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, Schab, who played the tuba in the USS Dobbins 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 didnt 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. Schabs 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 theyre 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. JAIMIE DING Ding covers California breaking news for The Associated Press. She focuses on law enforcement and the courts, and is based in Los Angeles. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site