Ira “Ike” Schaap, a World War II Navy veteran, is one of a dwindling number of survivors of the 1941 Japanese invasion. The bombing of Pearl HarborHe died. He was 105.
Schaap died at home early Saturday with her and her husband present, her daughter, Kimberly Heinrichs, told The Associated Press.
With his death, only about a dozen survivors remained from the surprise attack, which killed just over 2,400 soldiers and plunged the United States into war.
The young sailor was just 21 years old at the time of the attack, and for decades he rarely spoke about his experience.
But in recent years, realizing that the number of survivors was dwindling, this centenarian made sure to travel from his home in Beaverton, Oregon, to attend the annual ceremony at the Hawaii military base.
In 2023, he said: “To honor people who didn’t make it.”
In remembrance last year, a young man spent weeks building the strength to be able to Stand and salute.
But it’s this year I didn’t feel well enough to attendLess than three weeks later, he died.
He was born on Independence Day In 1920 Chicago, Schaap was the eldest of three brothers.
He said he joined the Navy when he was 18, following in his father’s footsteps February interview For Historic Parks of the Pacific.
On what began as an uneventful Sunday, December 7, 1941, Schaap, who played the tuba in the USS Dobbin band, was expecting a visit from his brother, a fellow service member assigned to a nearby naval radio station. A young man had just showered and put on a clean uniform when he heard a fire rescue call.
He went to the top and saw another ship, the USS Utah, capsizing. Japanese planes flew into the air.
“We were absolutely stunned,” a young man recalled in 2023. “Stunned and scared to death. We didn’t know what to expect, and we knew that if anything happened to us, it would be it.”
He ran back below deck to grab the ammunition boxes and joined a chain of sailors who were feeding shells to the anti-aircraft gun above.
His ship lost three sailors Naval records. One was killed in action, and two later died from bomb fragments that struck the ship’s stern. All of them were armed with an anti-aircraft gun.
Young spent most of the war with the Navy in the Pacific, heading to the New Hebrides, now known as Vanuatu, then the Mariana Islands and Okinawa, Japan.
After the war, he studied aeronautical engineering and worked on the Apollo spaceflight program as an electrical engineer for General Dynamics, helping send astronauts to the moon.
Young’s son also joined the Navy and is a retired captain.
Speaking in a 2022 ceremonyYoung asked people to honor those who served at Pearl Harbor.
“Remember what they came for. Remember and honor those who stayed. They did a wonderful job,” he said. “Those who are still here, dead or alive.”