What 21-year-old Ira Schab witnessed standing on the deck of the Dobbin United States Navy destroyer tender on Dec. 7, 1941, was terrifying. Two Japanese planes were approaching at high speed, firing in all directions.
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To his right, Schab saw the Utah target ship get hit with two torpedoes, roll over, and sink, and the light cruiser Raleigh tilt and go up in smoke.
He laid down on the deck, praying not to be harmed. "I had a guardian angel," he told Israel Hayom. "I have no other explanation as to why I survived that day unscathed."
It has been 80 years since the surprise military attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service on the Pearl Harbor US naval base during World War II. That day, 2,459 soldiers and civilians were killed, and 1,247 were injured.
Twelve American warships and 188 planes were destroyed, and another 155 were damaged. The United States, which was until then a neutral country, immediately declared war on Japan.
Schab, 101, along with other survivors, attended the memorial event at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, to mark the 80th anniversary of the attack. Initially, the Pearl Harbor Association had 70,000 members, but the number kept dwindling as the years went by. The last event, which took place two years ago, before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, was attended by 12 veterans alone.
Due to the pandemic, Schab rarely leaves his home and spends most of his time sharing his account of that fateful day in online lectures.
"I never get tired of sharing my story because it is important to keep the memory alive," Schab said in a Zoom interview from his daughter's home in Hillsboro, Oregon, where he has lived for the past few years.
His memory is sharp, as is his sense of humor. "For me, the fact that I am talking to a journalist from Israel is an attraction no less than my upcoming trip to Pearl Harbor. After all, I have already been there," he jokes.
Schab was born in 1920 and grew up in Southern California. In 1939, he finished high school. Unable to find work due to the Great Depression, he decided to enlist in the US Navy Band. Being a talented Tuba player, he successfully passed the audition and after training in Washington, was sent to Hawaii to join the Raleigh military band. Every morning, they would play during the flag-raising ceremony as well as during dance nights for sailors.
"We got to Pearl Harbor in December 1940, and it was refreshing because the weather was fantastic," Schab recalled. "On weekends we used to go to the beach, and it was amazing. At the end of November 1941, I was transferred to Dobbin, a ship that aided destroyers, which launched three years after World War I and would often accompany Raleigh."
Being transferred to Dobbin might have been why Schab survived the upcoming attack, as the Japanese mostly targeted destroyers and battleships.
"I spent Saturday night, the night before the attack, with club members at the base," Schab continued. "I participated in a competition with several other military bands. The next morning I planned, as every Sunday, to play at the ceremony at the ship's church.
"I then wanted to meet with my brother Allan, who also served in the navy, at a communications station on a nearby island. I didn't know where he was exactly and I also didn't have a car, so I waited for him to come to visit me. I also hoped we would get off the ship later and go play some golf on a nearby course."
However, in those moments, six Japanese planes were already on their way to the naval base. US intelligence did not have advance knowledge of the attack, which is considered one of the greatest intelligence failures in American military history.
Political scientist Emmanuel Navon from Tel Aviv University explains, "The Japanese were an industrial and military power, and wanted their own empire in Southeast Asia to take over the natural resources they lacked.
"They knew that one of their challenges was to conquer European colonies. The US had a significant presence in the Philippines, and the Japanese knew that attacking Pearl Harbor would greatly impact America's ability to respond."
The idea for the attack, named Operation Z, was conceived by Isoroku Yamamoto, who was then commanding Japan's Combined Fleet. Full-scale planning was underway by early spring 1941 near the town of Kagoshima, in an area whose topography and geography were similar to that of Pearl Harbor.
"The fact that there was a high concentration of ships at Pearl Harbor was very irresponsible," Navon said. "But no one thought the Japanese would do what they did."
On Nov. 26, 1941, six aircraft carriers left Hitokappu Bay en route to Pearl Harbor, carrying 441 fighter jets. Sailing alongside them were two fast battleships, two heavy cruisers, nine destroyers, and 28 submarines, five of which were midget submarines designed to enter the bay by themselves and wreak havoc.
The first wave of the attack began on Dec. 7 at 06:05 a.m., when 183 Japanese fighters took off toward the target. Less than two hours later, at 07:55 a.m., the lead pilot gave a command and fire rained down on the American ships at Pearl Harbor.
"I remember the attack as if it happened today," Schab recalled. "Seconds before, I had gotten out of the shower and put on a fresh uniform. I had just closed my locker when the base alarm went off.
"At first, I thought the sounds of planes and explosions were part of an exercise. There were calls for firefighters and instructions to wait for further instructions, as was customary during exercises. But after a few seconds, the crew was called to assume battle positions. I was not a fighter, so I did not have a battle position, but I decided to go up to the deck and see what was happening.
"The scene was awful. I saw Utah hit by torpedoes, rolling over. I looked up and saw Japanese planes firing in all directions. I had never seen anything like it. A plane was flying right toward me, and I lay down on the ground. I was scared to death. I joined the navy during peaceful times and didn't think I would find myself in a war.
"I crawled back to the stairs and off the deck. It was clear to me that I would not stand still while my friends were fighting for their lives. I went downstairs and saw sailors carrying ammunition crates for anti-craft weapons, and I decided to join them.
"We didn't see anything and didn't know what was going on, but were working at an insane speed, carrying the ammunition and passing it through a window in the ceiling to the sailors who operated the weapons. It was very scary because we heard explosions above and knew that we could die at any moment.
"For an hour and a half, we kept carrying the ammunition. I weighed about 65 kilograms (140 pounds) at the time, and carried boxes that weighed double that."
Dobbin lost four crew members in the attack. Utah, which was nearby, lost 58. The sailors of Raleigh, which began to tilt after getting hit by a torpedo, managed to prevent the ship from overturning by hurrying to the other side, transferring the weight.
USS Arizona, which was stationed on the other side of Ford Island, around which the ships were docked, was hit by a torpedo that blew its ammunition depot and caused it to sink. Its crew of 1,177 members was killed.
Many of them were trapped inside the ship, with no way to escape.
"I was standing on the deck of Dobbin when Arizona was hit," Schab said. "I saw how it descended into the abyss. There were bodies in the water and everything around was burning. It was a horrible sight, and I felt like I was in hell."
The attack ended when Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, who led the Japanese navy, decided to withdraw his forces before the third wave, the purpose of which was to undermine the US navy's ability to rehabilitate.
The large fuel tanks in the port were not damaged in the attack, which allowed the US to return to operations in a relatively short time.
"I continued to pass ammunition crates, but slowly the sounds of bombings subsided, and we began to realize that the attack was over. We still heard planes, but the explosions ceased. We went upstairs and saw a very difficult scene.
"Some ships sustained serious damage, others sank completely. The water in the bay, which was usually blue, turned black from the large amounts of oil that leaked from the ships.
"I began treating the wounded on my ship. Luckily, I underwent basic training as a paramedic at the beginning of my service. I must have treated dozens of wounded."
Q: When did the magnitude of the tragedy dawn on you?
"At first, we didn't know how many were injured, but the horrific picture became clear very quickly. It was like a horror movie. People tried to get survivors out of the ships. I lost friends and acquaintances, people who served by my side.
"We did our best and prayed that the Japanese planes would not return. That day felt like an eternity. Needless to say, I did not see my brother that day. Only a few days later, I found out he was alive and had survived the attack.
Only the day after the attack, the survivors had a chance to catch their breaths.
"Lots of smoke was still coming up from the ships," Schab said. "And rescue forces continued to make desperate attempts to save sailors trapped in overturned ships.
"Every now and then I would look at Arizona. Among the 1,177 that were killed there, were all members of the navy band. I knew each and every one of them. Nobody spoke about their feelings, it was a different time. We just worked as hard as we could. It was necessary to load ammunition onto the ship again and repair the damage.
"I helped get the bodies out of the water. I saw things no one should ever see, certainly not at such a young age. We knew our friends were on these ships, and that we might not get to them in time. It was a very difficult feeling."
Schab's daughter, Kimberly Hendrix, shared, "When I was a child, dad didn't talk a lot about what happened at Pearl Harbor. It was a different generation, no one thought to stop and talk about what they saw, their feelings after witnessing such horrors. Only 15 years ago he began to talk about it.
"He kept emotions suppressed over the years, things he kept inside, but it was always clear that it hurt him. A few years ago, I found a letter dad sent to his mother, my grandmother, the day after the attack, on Dec. 8, with the words 'I am alright, don't know about Allan.' That is the first thing he did, inform everybody that he was alive. Since the war, he has been to Hawaii many times, but only recently agreed to return to Pearl Harbor. He was simply unable to do so before."
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, then-US President Frankin Roosevelt delivered his famous Day of Infamy speech.
"No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory," he said. "I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us."
On Dec. 8, 1941, the United States, the Netherlands, and Britain declared war on Japan. Three days later, on Dec. 11, Nazi Germany and fascist Italy declared war on the US. Thus, more than two years after WWII began, the US was dragged into the fighting.
Navon explained, "For the free world, and for [British Prime Minister Winston] Churchill in particular, the attack on Pearl Harbor was a gift from heaven. It forced the United States into the war, and in fact, it was the Japanese and the Nazis who made the United States into a military superpower, and from there, one of the strongest countries in the world."
Within a few months after the attack, the US was able to rehabilitate its navy and embark on initial attacks against Japan. In April 1942, it conducted an air raid on Tokyo, known as the Doolittle Raid.
A month later began the Battle of the Coral Sea, which was the first action in history in which aircraft carriers engaged each other and the first in which the opposing ships neither sighted nor fired directly upon one another.
Schab continued his military service in the Pacific sector for the rest of World War II. Towards the end of the war, the ship he served on returned to the US to re-equip and load new sailors.
"I was playing in a concert for officers at a training camp in New York State, and suddenly, someone came in and shouted, 'The war is over, the war is over,' Schab said. "Everyone jumped up and started dancing."
Schab remained in the navy until 1947, after which he studied aeronautical engineering. He later served as a civil engineer on a missile boat and worked for General Dynamics. In the late 1960s, he was a member of the company's supporting team for Project Apollo.
"In the Apollo 8 program, I memorized the entire operation – from the moment of take-off to the moon, to the mission of the spacecraft around the moon. In 1969, I was in the Indian Ocean, part of a team that collected astronauts returning from the moon on Apollo 11."
In 1986, Schab retired.
On Dec. 7, 2019, the Pearl Harbor commemoration ceremony was especially moving. The ashes of Lauren Bruner, the ship's last surviving crew member who had passed away at the age of 98, were laid to rest among shipmates with the help of US Navy divers.
That was the same day Schab visited Pearl Harbor for the second time since the attack.
"I wasn't able to go there before," he said. "When I did it in 2019, I was overwhelmed with emotions. I cried uncontrollably."
This year's journey to Pearl Harbor was not easy either. The coronavirus and the assistance that Schab requires made it more challenging than ever. Hendrix launched an entire campaign to be able to take her father to Pearl Harbor and succeeded in collecting over $8,000 in donations.
"I am honored to help you get there," wrote Jack, who donated 101 dollars, one for each of Schab's years of life. "People who served during WWII are the real heroes."
Hendrix was overwhelmed by the response.
"With everything that is going on because of COVID, I didn't expect people to do something like that," she said. "It is very touching. As for my dad, he is going back to Pearl Harbor both for himself and as a representative of something bigger, something that is slowly disappearing.
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"For years, he would meet with navy bandmates. They didn't have to talk, they were just there for each other. It helped them cope. In recent years, dad thought he was the last one alive. But thanks to the campaign, we were able to find another member, who was on one of those ships on that fateful day. We are preparing a surprise for him and we will meet them at a concert that will be held there."
As for Schab, he felt grateful to be alive.
"It is amazing to still be alive when so many of my friends have already passed. I lost a lot of friends at Pearl Harbor. We were all very close, even closer than brothers. I feel I must return to USS Arizona, see the names of the dead, remember our time together, and share the story with future generations," he said.
"I survived Pearl Harbor, and other battles, unscathed. Someone out there must be watching over me."
