"From left to right, Pearl Harbor survivors Harry Chandler, Ken Stevens, Herb Elfring and Ira “Ike” Schab sit during the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii."
Posted on 12/21/2025 4:39:24 AM PST by DFG
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
"From left to right, Pearl Harbor survivors Harry Chandler, Ken Stevens, Herb Elfring and Ira “Ike” Schab sit during the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii."
One thing that amazed me was how many East Asians there were at the Memorial while we were there. I don't know how many of them,if any,were Japanese but I can't see how Chinese or Koreans would have been particularly interested.
I came away with the very same feeling.
Time is running fast.
WWII is slowly becoming like WWI or Napoleonic wars.
Pure history, nobody living to remember.
When I was young, all adults were WWII survivors, there were many veterans and holocaust survivors to talk to. Heck, there were still lots of older people who remembered and even fought in WWI.
Now, you have to be in your late 80ties to even remember WWII and around 100 to fought in it.
RIP heroes.
The Greatest generation will soon be gone... Values, morals and a steely fortitude that won’t likely come again for any generation hereafter.
They fought the National Socialist in Germany, the Italian Fascist and the Japanese Emperor and they won unconditional surrenders from all of them... Then they built some of the greatest economies earth has ever witnessed.
Since World War 2 the ultra left liberal Socialist have done their best to destroy everything they built and fought for... And sadly... They likely won’t live long enough to see the fight to stop that nonsense from happening prevail. Many are trying to stop it... And right now it feels like we are winning but the left-minded eugenics loving liberals aren’t going anywhere and they have fooled a lot of people into buying the nonsense that they spew.
The Japanese were murdering and enslaving Koreans and Chinese in large numbers in WWII, so I *can* see why they would be interested in those who put a stop to it.
Imperial Japan’s depravity in WWII made the Nazis blush with envy.
There's an excellent TV miniseries done by an Australian network called "A Town Like Alice" that's about Australia's experiences with the Japanese during WWII. It's about 5 hours long and it's on youtube IIRC.Check it out if you have some free time.
Had a similar experience myself. Looking at the Arizona underwater was one thing, but when we got to the rear of the memorial and I saw all those names on the wall, I about lost it. So many young lives lost… so many. What a waste.
There's an Aussie song called "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" which reflects that regarding WWI. The final verse goes like this:
Now every April I sit on my porch and watch the parade pass before me
I see my old comrades, how proudly they march, reviewing their days of past glory
I see the old men, all tired stiff and sore, The weary old heroes of a forgotten war
and the young people ask :What are they marchin' for
and I ask myself the same question.
And the band plays Waltzing Matilda, as the old men still answer the call
But year after year their numbers get fewer
Some day no one will march there at all.
Agreed. I feel very fortunate to have been raised around them (born 1961). Quite the contrast to today’s.... ‘culture’.
...
I’m right there with you... Born in 62, we’re the last of the baby boomers.
Many of us were rebellious at times, but the older I get the more I appreciate my parents and the values they instilled in me. We’re the lucky ones... Every generation since the boomer crowd appears to be getting sh*ttier and sh*ttier and I fear for the children born in this century... They’re being fed AI lies daily like sausage meat being churning out of factory and those who can decern the BS from reality will become fewer and fewer as each year passes, and sadly their dark futures will likely turn into a complete nightmare.
Which makes me even more appreciative of being born in 1962 instead of this century.
But unlike earlier wars we have audio and video of many surviving soldiers/sailors/airmen of WWII/Korean/Vietnam wars.
We have some video from WWI too.
But it is all different.
If you live through it, You know it.
Otherwise, it is just history.
For some 9/11 is already just a history.
More remote than WWII is for me.
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