Ira “Ike” Schabb, one of the few remaining survivors of the Pearl Harbor attack during World War II, has died at age 105, just weeks after the anniversary of the event.
Foreign news agencies reported on 21 Dec 2025 that Ira “Ike” Schabb, a former U.S. Navy veteran from World War II and one of the few survivors left from the 1941 Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, has died at the age of 105.
His daughter, Kimberly Hinricks, told the Associated Press that Schabb passed away peacefully at home early Saturday morning (20 Dec), with her and her husband by his side.
His passing leaves only about 12 survivors from that sudden attack, which caused over 2,400 military deaths and triggered the United States' official entry into the war.
At the time of the attack, Schabb was just 21 years old and serving as a sailor. For many decades, he kept to himself and rarely spoke about his experiences during that time.
In recent years, realizing the number of Pearl Harbor survivors was dwindling, Schabb, then over 100 years old, made a determined effort to travel from his home in Beaverton, Oregon, to the military base in Hawaii to attend the annual memorial ceremony. In 2023, he explained, “to honor those comrades who did not survive.”
For the 2024 memorial, Schabb spent several weeks regaining his strength to be able to stand and pay respects. However, this year he felt too weak to attend, and less than three weeks later, he passed away peacefully.
Schabb was born on 4 July 1920, coinciding with U.S. Independence Day, in Chicago. He was the eldest of three siblings and joined the Navy at age 18, following in his father's footsteps.
Schabb once recalled that on the morning of the Pearl Harbor attack on 7 Dec 1941, the day began quietly. He served as the tuba player in the band aboard the USS Dobbin and was awaiting a visit from his younger brother, who was stationed at a nearby Navy radio station.
At that moment, having just finished showering and dressed in a fresh uniform, he heard the fire alarm signal. He went up to the ship's deck and saw the USS Utah capsizing while Japanese planes roared overhead.
“We were shocked, both terrified and fearing for our lives,” Schabb said in 2023. “We had no idea what we were facing, and we knew that if anything happened to us, it would all be over right then.”
Schabb quickly ran below deck to grab an ammunition box and joined fellow sailors in forming a 'Daisy chain' to pass shells hand-to-hand up to the anti-aircraft guns on the deck above.
According to U.S. Navy records, Schabb's ship lost three sailors: one died on duty, and two others later died from shrapnel wounds caused by bombs that fell on the ship's stern, all stationed at the anti-aircraft guns.
During World War II, Schabb spent most of his time with the Navy in the Pacific Ocean, traveling to the New Hebrides Islands (now known as Vanuatu), then to the Mariana Islands and Okinawa, Japan.
After the war, he studied aerospace engineering and worked as an electrical engineer for General Dynamics on the Apollo space program, contributing to missions that sent astronauts to the moon.
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Source:cnn