2 Pearl Harbor survivors, ages 104 and 102, return to Hawaii to honor those killed in 1941 attack

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) — 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.”

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 Dec. 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.”

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.

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.

“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 5-inch (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.

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.”

Associated Press journalist Terry Chea contributed from Lodi, California.

Servicemen and Park Service rangers present wreathes during the 83rd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)

U.S. Navy Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Adm. Stephen T. "Web" Koehler speaks during the 83rd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)

Sailors aboard the USS Carl M. Levin render honors while passing the USS Arizona Memorial and the sunken battleship the USS Arizona during the 83rd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)

U.S. Marines perform a rifle salute before a Navy bugler plays taps during the 83rd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)

Pearl Harbor survivor Ira "Ike" Schab, 104, from Beaverton, Ore., center, salutes as he leaves the stand during the 83rd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)

World War II veterans bow their heads during a prayer for the 83rd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)

The USS Arizona Memorial is seen before a ceremony to mark the 83rd anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)

Pearl Harbor survivor Ira "Ike" Schab, left, talks to his son, retired Navy Cmdr. Karl Schab before the 83rd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)

Ira "Ike" Schab, 104, from Beaverton, Ore., who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor as a sailor on the USS Dobbin, right, talks with Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Quoc Vu after the 83rd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)

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Ken Stevens, 102, of Powers, Ore., who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor talks to the media before the 83rd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)

Ken Stevens, 102, of Powers, Ore., who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor shakes hand with a park ranger before the 83rd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)

Pearl Harbor survivors, Ken Stevens, 102, of Powers, Ore., left, and Ira "Ike" Schab, 104, of Beaverton, Ore., wait for the start of the 83rd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)

Pearl Harbor survivors Ken Stevens, 102, of Powers, Ore., left, and Ira "Ike" Schab, 104, from Beaverton, Ore., talk to attendees after the 83rd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)

Pearl Harbor survivor Ira "Ike" Schab, 104, from Beaverton, Ore., looks at a photo presented by an attendee after the 83rd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)

Pearl Harbor survivor Ira "Ike" Schab, 104, from Beaverton, Ore., center, stand by his son, retired Navy Cmdr. Karl Schab, and daughter, retired Air Force veteran to salute behalf of all the Pearl Harbor survivors during the 83rd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)

Pearl Harbor survivors, Ken Stevens, 102, of Powers, Ore., second from the left, and Ira "Ike" Schab, 104, of Beaverton, Ore., wait before the start of the 83rd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)

FILE - In this photo provided by the U.S. Navy, the destroyer USS Shaw explodes after being hit by bombs during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Dec. 7, 1941. (U.S. Navy via AP, File)

The USS Curtiss is seen underway at sea, 1954. (Naval History and Heritage Command via AP)

Pearl Harbor Navy veteran Bob Fernandez poses for a photograph with medals from his military service, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Lodi, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Navy veteran Bob Fernandez talks about being aboard the USS Curtiss during the Pearl Harbor attack, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Lodi, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Pearl Harbor Navy veteran Bob Fernandez is photographed at home Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Lodi, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Pearl Harbor Navy veteran Bob Fernandez smiles while being photographed at home Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Lodi, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Navy veteran Bob Fernandez hods a photograph of the USS Curtiss, in which he served during the Pearl Harbor attack, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Lodi, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Hanukkah, Judaism’s eight-day Festival of Lights, begins this year on Christmas Day, which has only happened four times since 1900.

For some rabbis, the intersection of the two religious holidays provides an auspicious occasion for interfaith engagement.

“This can be a profound opportunity for learning and collaboration and togetherness,” said Rabbi Josh Stanton, a vice president of the Jewish Federations of North America. He oversees interfaith initiatives involving the 146 local and regional Jewish federations that his organization represents.

“The goal is not proselytizing; it's learning deeply from each other,” he said. “It’s others seeing you as you see yourself.”

One example of togetherness: a Chicanukah party hosted Thursday evening by several Jewish organizations in Houston, bringing together members of the city’s Latino and Jewish communities for a “cross cultural holiday celebration." The venue: Houston’s Holocaust museum.

The food on offer was a blend of the two cultures — for example a latke bar featuring guacamole, chili con queso and pico de gallo, as well as applesauce and sour cream. The doughnut-like pastries were sufganiyot — a Hanukkah specialty — and buñuelos, And the mariachi band took a crack at playing the Jewish folk song “Hava Nagila.”

“What really brings us together is our shared values — our faith, our families, our heritage,” said Erica Winsor, public affairs officer for the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston.

Rabbi Peter Tarlow, executive director of the Houston-based Center for Latino-Jewish Relations, said the first Chicanukah event 12 years ago drew 20 people, while this year the crowd numbered about 300, and could have been larger had not attendance been capped. He said the party-goers were a roughly even mix of Latinos — some of them Jews with Latin American origins — and “Anglo” Jews.

“There’s too much hate, too much separation against both Jews and Latinos,” Tarlow said. “This is a way we can come together and show we support each other.”

While Hanukkah is intended as an upbeat, celebratory holiday, rabbis note that it’s taking place this year amid continuing conflicts involving Israeli forces in the Middle East, and apprehension over widespread incidents of antisemitism.

Rabbi Moshe Hauer, executive vice president of the Orthodox Union, acknowledged that many Jews may be feeling anxious heading into Hanukkah this year. But he voiced confidence that most would maintain the key tradition: the lighting of candles on menorah candelabras and displaying where they’re visible through household windows and in public spaces.

“The posture of our community — without stridency, just with determination — is that the menorah should be in our windows, in a place where the public sees it,” Hauer said.

“It is less for us, the Jewish community, than for the world,” he added. “We have to share that light. Putting the menorah in the window is our expression of working to be a light among the nations.”

Hauer concurred with Stanton that this year’s overlap of Hanukkah and Christmas is “an exceptional opportunity to see and experience the diversity of America and the diversity of its communities of faith.”

Rabbi Motti Seligson, public relations director for the Hasidic movement Chabad-Lubavitch, noted that this year marks the 50th anniversary of a milestone in the public lightings of menorahs. It was on Dec. 8, 1974 — as part of an initiative launched by the Lubavitcher leader, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson — that a menorah was lit outside Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, where the Liberty Bell was housed at the time.

"Hanukkah is a celebration of religious liberty, so that it’s not taken for granted,” Seligson said. “One of the ways of doing that is by celebrating it publicly.”

He said Chabad was organizing about 15,000 public menorah lightings this year through its numerous branches around the world.

“There certainly is some apprehension,” Seligson said, referring to concerns about antisemitism and political friction. “Some people question whether Jews will be celebrating as openly as in the past.”

“What I’m hearing is there’s no way that we can’t,” he added. “The only way through these difficult times is by standing stronger and prouder and shining brighter than ever.”

Stanton concurred.

“Through our history, we’ve been through moments that are easy and moments that are hard,” he said. “Safety for us does not come from hiding. It comes from reaching out.”

Why is Hanukkah so late this year? The simple answer is that the Jewish calendar is based on lunar cycles, and is not in sync with the Gregorian calendar which sets Christmas on Dec. 25. Hanukkah always begins on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev, a date which occurs between late November and late December on the Gregorian calendar.

The last time Hanukkah began on Christmas Day was in 2005. But the term “Chrismukkah” — signifying the overlap of the two holidays — had become a popular term before then. The term gained extra currency in 2003, when the character Seth Cohen on the TV drama “The O.C.” embraced the fusion holiday as a tribute to his Jewish father and Protestant mother.

This season, the Hallmark Channel introduced a new Christmas movie called “Leah’s Perfect Gift,” depicting a young Jewish woman who had admired Christmas from a distance, and gets a chance to experience it up close when her boyfriend invites her to spend the holidays with his family. Spoiler alert: All does not go smoothly.

Despite such storylines suggesting a fascination with Christmas among some Jews, Stanton says research by the Jewish Federations reveals a surge in Jews seeking deeper connections to their own traditions and community, as well as a surge in Jews volunteering for charitable activities during the holidays.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Guests listen to speakers during a Chicanukah event at Holocaust Museum Houston on Thursday, December 19, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Benjamin Warren hugs Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo after she spoke during a Chicanukah event at Holocaust Museum Houston on Thursday, December 19, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Attendees listen to speakers during a Chicanukah event at Holocaust Museum Houston on Thursday, December 19, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Dr. Annette Goldberg dances with Sheldon Weisfeld during a Chicanukah mariachi performance at Holocaust Museum Houston on Thursday, December 19, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Altagracia Vazquez performs with her daughter Ariana, 6, and Mariachi Palmeros during a Chicanukah event at Holocaust Museum Houston on Thursday, December 19, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Guests add guacamole and pico de gallo to latkes during a Chicanukah event at Holocaust Museum Houston on Thursday, December 19, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Guests enjoy a performance by Mariachi Palmeros during a Chicanukah event at Holocaust Museum Houston on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Jacob Monty joins Rabbi Peter Tarlow at the podium during a Chicanukah event at Holocaust Museum Houston on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Rabbi Peter Tarlow lights a candle on a menorah during a Chicanukah event at Holocaust Museum Houston on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo speaks during a Chicanukah event at Holocaust Museum Houston on Thursday, December 19, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)