Ira “Ike” Schab, a 104-year-old Pearl Harbor attack survivor, was so determined to stand and salute during a remembrance ceremony honoring those killed in the Japanese bombing that thrust the U.S. into World War II some 83 years ago that he spent six weeks in physical therapy to build the strength to do so.
On Saturday, Schab gingerly rose from his wheelchair and raised his right hand, returning a salute delivered by sailors on a destroyer and a submarine passing by in the harbor. His son and a daughter supported him from either side.
“I was honored to do it. I’m glad I was capable of standing up,” he said afterward. “I’m getting old, you know.”
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Schab is one of only two servicemen who lived through the attack who made it to an annual observance hosted by the U.S. Navy and National Park Service on a grass field overlooking the harbor. A third survivor had been planning to join them but had to cancel because of health issues.
The December 7, 1941, bombing killed more than 2,300 U.S. servicemen. Nearly half, or 1,177, were sailors and Marines on board the USS Arizona, which sank during the battle. The remains of more than 900 Arizona crew members are still entombed on the submerged vessel.
Dozens of survivors once joined the event but their attendance has declined as survivors have aged. Today there are only 16 still living, according to a list maintained by Kathleen Farley, the California state chair of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors. Military historian J. Michael Wenger has estimated there were some 87,000 military personnel on Oahu on the day of the attack.
Schab agreed when ceremony organizers asked him earlier this year to salute on behalf of all survivors and World War II veterans.
“He’s been working hard, because this is his goal,” said his daughter Kimberlee Heinrichs, who traveled to Hawaii with Schab from their Beaverton, Oregon, home. “He wanted to be able to stand for that.”
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Schab was a sailor on the USS Dobbin at the time of the attack, serving as the tuba player in the ship’s band. He had showered and put on a clean uniform when he heard the call for a fire rescue party.
He hurried topside to see Japanese planes flying overhead and the USS Utah capsizing. He quickly went back below deck to join a daisy chain of sailors feeding shells to an anti-aircraft gun topside.
The USS Arizona Memorial is seen before a ceremony to mark the 83rd anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 2024, in Honolulu.
Ken Stevens, 102, who served on the USS Whitney, joined Schab at the ceremony. USS Curtiss sailor Bob Fernandez, 100, was unable to come due to health issues.
Attendees observed a moment of silence at 7:54 a.m., the same time the attack began eight decades ago. F-22 jets in missing man formation flew overhead shortly after.
Fernandez, speaking in a phone interview from California, where he lives with his nephew in Lodi, recalled feeling shocked and surprised as the attack began.
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“When those things go off like that, we didn’t know what’s what,” Fernandez said. “We didn’t even know we were in a war.”
Fernandez was a mess cook on the Curtiss and his job that morning was to bring sailors coffee and food as he waited tables during breakfast. Then they heard an alarm sound. Through a porthole, Fernandez saw a plane with the red ball insignia painted on Japanese aircraft fly by.
Fernandez rushed down three decks to a magazine room where he and other sailors waited for someone to unlock a door storing 12.7-centimeter, 38-caliber shells so they could begin passing them to the ship’s guns.
He has told interviewers over the years that some of his fellow sailors were praying and crying as they heard gunfire up above.
“I felt kind of scared because I didn’t know what the hell was going on,” Fernandez said.
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The ship’s guns hit a Japanese plane that crashed into one of its cranes. Shortly after, its guns hit a dive bomber that then slammed into the ship and exploded below deck, setting the hangar and main decks on fire, according to the Navy History and Heritage Command.
Fernandez’s ship, the Curtiss, lost 21 men and nearly 60 of its sailors were injured.
Many laud Pearl Harbor survivors as heroes, but Fernandez doesn’t view himself that way.
“I’m not a hero,” he said. “I’m just nothing but an ammunition passer.”
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A new Aloha United Way report released today shows 1 in 3 Hawaii households considered moving away over the past year. Should the trend continue, it would have a devastating impact on our economy.
Hawaii’s high cost of living and lack of affordable housing mean more than half a million residents are barely scraping by.
That’s one of the findings from the 2024 State of ALICE in Hawaii report, which looks at the struggles of Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed households, known as ALICE.
First the good news: fewer Hawaii households are living in poverty — down to 12% versus 14% in 2022. ALICE households remained the same at 29%.
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Advocates attribute the slight drop to government programs and increased minimum wages, but also more ALICE families are leaving the islands.
“180,000 people right now are considering leaving the state of Hawaii, from our workforce, from our younger families, our Hawaiian families, and that is something that we are deeply concerned about at Aloha United Way and of course, Bank of Hawaii and Hawaii Community Foundation.” said Suzanne Skjold, COO of Aloha United Way.
These working poor make too much to qualify for government aid and live paycheck to paycheck. Many are on the brink of financial crisis.
“This is absolutely critical, because affordability and just economic well being in our state is not where we need it to be,” said Peter Ho, Bank of Hawaii CEO.
So who is ALICE? They’re likely to be women or have children.
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58% of native Hawaiians and 52% of Filipinos live under the ALICE threshold.
You’re more likely to be ALICE if you live on the neighbor islands. Maui is especially vulnerable, especially since the Lahaina fires.
“The people that are leaving hawaii are the people that can afford to leave their workforce and the people our engine. And if this continues, we’re going to have this hollow community where our engine is is just not there, right? And you’re gonna have very, very poor people, and we’re gonna have very, very wealthy,” said Micah Kane, President/CEO of Hawaii Community Foundation.
Advocates hope the report compels policymakers, businesses and community leaders to work together to reverse the trend.
“Employers will never be able to elevate wages and meet the cost of living requirements of this place,” Kane said. “Unless we come up with a host of very disruptive policies that drive down the cost of living, these people that are striking are going to leave.”
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To fill gaps in services, Aloha United Way and other nonprofits are helping ALICE families access financial stability, affordable housing and higher paying jobs.
Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said he plans to lobby for ALICE-focused funding during this legislative session.
“We need to own this, all of us, and so from that standpoint this data becomes the argument you put on the table when you say we have to change,” Blangiardi said.
Some ways to ease the burden on ALICE families include tax credits, safety net programs, support for caregivers, mental health resources, debt reduction programs and financial incentives.
Read the full 2024 ALICE Report here.
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Copyright 2025 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – As the debate over when and where to build Oahu’s next landfill continues, some are working toward phasing them out altogether.
Re-Use Hawaii is a local nonprofit organization that promotes sustainability and hopes to foster a circular economy through material reuse.
“The City & County of Honolulu announced plans for a new landfill, and this decision will shape Hawaii’s future in waste diversion and sustainability and directly affect our communities. At Re-Use Hawaii, we believe in less waste, more reuse,” said Executive Director Quinn Vittum.
The organization works to salvage reusable materials and return them to the community, and it’s the only licensed contractor in Hawaii providing deconstruction services.
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“We aim to reduce waste by salvaging reusable materials, providing affordable resources to the community, and supporting green workforce development,” added Vittum.
Recently, Re-Use Hawaii opened a new location at Stadium Marketplace (4561 Salt Lake Boulevard) which was formerly Sack n Save, Castle Park.
“Our new location is three times larger than the previous warehouse in Kakaako, which operated for 18 years,” said Vittum. “It took approximately 260 truckloads to complete the relocation.”
A grand opening ceremony is slated for March 1.
Re-Use Hawaii plans to host sustainable businesses and other community groups that align with their mission.
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In the meantime, the public is invited to come check out the new space Wednesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The nonprofit said it’s planning to open seven days a week sometime in February.
To learn more, click here.
Copyright 2025 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
Kainoa Wade delivered the decisive blow in his Hawaii debut, putting away his eighth kill in 15 swings without an error on match point to deliver a 25-18, 25-17, 25-20 win for the fourth-ranked Rainbow Warriors over Harvard tonight.
A SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 3,674 gave Wade a loud ovation when he entered a match for the first time to start the second set.
He had three kills in the second set and then put down five more in the final set for Hawaii (3-0), which has won eight consecutive sets.
Adrien Roure put down a team-high nine kills and 13 different players saw the court for UH, which plays the Crimson (0-1) again on Friday.
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Freshman middle Ofeck Hazan added six kills and six blocks and hit .600 for UH, which finished the match hitting .400.
Sophomore setter Tread Rosenthal had a match-high 33 assists, six digs, five blocks and one of five Hawaii aces.
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