‘I owe them’: At 103, Pearl Harbor survivor makes trip to honor comrades lost in Dec. 7 attacks

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Pearl Harbor survivor “Ike” Schab is back in Honolulu.

The 103-year-old was greeted with applause Sunday as he got off his flight from Portland.

Schab has returned for the 82nd commemoration of the Pearl Harbor attack. It’s a trip that almost didn’t happen because of an illness, but Schab was determined to make it to this year’s ceremony.

While it’s been more than eight decades since the Pearl Harbor attack, Dec. 7 still brings back his memories of being there. ”And they’re not necessarily pleasant,” he says.

“But I definitely don’t want to lose that memory.”

Schab was a Navy musician stationed aboard the USS Dobbin that was anchored off Ford Island.

During the bombing of Battleship Row, he helped load his ship’s anti-aircraft guns.
Asked what was racing through his mind, he says, “Disbelief. I couldn’t believe it was happening.”

Even at his advanced age, Schab looks forward to attending the annual Pearl Harbor commemoration ceremony to pay his respects alongside other December 7 survivors.

”There’s a certain feeling of comfort and at the same time obligation. That’s a good word,” he said.

”I owe them. Just like that.”

But this year’s trip almost didn’t happen.

”He got really sick earlier this year, almost left us, really scary,” said daughter Kimberlee Heinrichs.

”I’m talking to him saying, ‘Hey, it’s OK if it’s, you know.’ And he goes, and I quote, ‘Hell no! I’m going to Hawaii,’” she joked.

For a long time, Schab spoke very little about the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

His family says that gradually changed the older he got.

“Because I think I owe to the guys that were there that aren’t there anymore,” he said. ”Don’t forget it. Don’t forget it. Just keep it alive. It’s like a living thing.”

Schab is the last survivor from Navy Band 13 and among the ranks of a shrinking number of servicemembers who lived through one of the darkest days in America’s history.