"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,"
"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."
Ira 'Ike' Schab, a World War II Navy veteran and Pearl Harbor survivor, died at age 105 at his home in Beaverton, Oregon, with family present. He joined the Navy at 18, followed his father into service, and was the eldest of three brothers, born July 4, 1920, in Chicago. Schab was 21 during the Dec. 7, 1941 attack, played tuba in the USS Dobbin's band, and rushed to help anti-aircraft crews after seeing the USS Utah capsizing. He rarely spoke about the attack for decades but in later years attended annual Hawaii commemorations to honor those killed. About a dozen survivors remain.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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