Pearl Harbor survivor Ira “Ike” Schab looked back on his experiences during the Japanese bombing attacks—which prompted the United States to enter World War II—in video footage shot on Nov. 20, 2023. The 82nd anniversary of the surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific fleet was marked on Dec. 7.
From his Beaverton, Oregon home, the 103-year-old Schab said he is planning to return to the Hawaiian naval base. The veteran is expected to be one of six survivors at a remembrance ceremony for the more than 2,300 servicemen killed at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
Schab remembered what he was thinking after seeing the USS Utah capsizing and Japanese planes in the air. “We were pretty startled. Startled and scared to death,” he said. “We didn’t know what to expect and we knew that if anything happened to us, that would be it.”
