(CNN) A Pearl Harbor survivor will be in attendance at the 80th remembrance ceremony this week, thanks to the help of his daughter and dozens of strangers who wanted to make sure he could be there.
Ike Schab, 101, told CNN he was on a docked ship when the attack occurred in 1941.
"I don't remember seeing the Arizona get hit, but I remember being at the bow of our ship and a big high tower of flame and debris came off of her," Schab said. "It's getting harder to remember these things, but I remember trying not to get killed during the war. Like most people."
His daughter, Kimberlee Heinrichs, told CNN she knew her dad needed to attend the event on December 7 , after his social life was severely limited due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But after a tough year of layoffs and financial struggle, getting him there with the care he needed didn't seem possible.
Schab needed two caregivers for the travel to Hawaii, but the organization taking the veterans was only able to pay for one.
maruffin on December 6th, 2021 at 00:01 UTC »
I’m a speech therapist. About 30 years ago I worked with a veteran who was at Pearl Harbor the day it was bombed. He said he and a buddy got up early that Sunday morning to take his buddy’s girlfriend up in a plane ride. Afterwards they went back to her place for breakfast. Her apartment was up on the side of the mountain there, overlooking the harbor. They saw the Japanese planes coming in and didn’t know what was going on at first. When the bombs started to fall, they scrambled to get back to base. They ran back because it was faster than trying to drive back.
J-Dabbleyou on December 5th, 2021 at 20:58 UTC »
The damn military ain’t paying for it? Seems like one of the most important part of the service would be the very very few remaining veterans who were there
DigitalSteven1 on December 5th, 2021 at 20:07 UTC »
I dislike how this is twisted as uplifting. He shouldn't need donations to attend the memorial service...