PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii – Ira “Ike” Schab, a 104-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor, spent six weeks in physical therapy to build the strength to stand and salute during a memorial ceremony honoring the victims of the Japanese bombing that plunged the United States into World War II years ago.

On Saturday, Schab rose carefully from his wheelchair, raised his right hand and returned the salute from the sailors standing on a destroyer and a submarine passing in the harbor.

“He worked hard because this is his goal,” said his daughter Kimberlee Heinrichs, who traveled with Schab to Hawaii from her home in Beaverton, Oregon. “He wanted to be able to advocate for it.”

Schab is one of only two soldiers who survived the attack and made it to an annual U.S. Navy and National Park Service memorial ceremony on a meadow overlooking the harbor. A third survivor had planned to join them but had to cancel for health reasons.

More than 2,300 US soldiers died in the bombing raid on December 7, 1941. Nearly half – 1,177 – were sailors and Marines aboard the USS Arizona, which sank during the battle. The remains of more than 900 Arizona crew members are buried in the submerged ship beneath a monument in their honor.

Dozens of survivors once attended the annual event, but their participation has declined as survivors get older. According to a list compiled by Kathleen Farley, president of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors in the US state of California, only 16 people are still alive today. Military historian J. Michael Wenger estimates that about 87,000 military personnel were on Oahu on the day of the attack.

Schab agreed when ceremony organizers asked him this year to salute on behalf of all World War II survivors and veterans.

“It was an honor to do this,” he said. “I’m glad I was able to get up. I’m getting old, you know.”

Schab was a sailor on the USS Dobbin and a tuba player in the ship’s band at the time of the attack. He had showered and put on a clean uniform when he heard the call for the fire department.

He rushed up and saw Japanese planes flying overhead and the USS Utah capsizing. He quickly went back below deck to join a group of sailors who were shelling an anti-aircraft gun.

Ken Stevens, 102, of Powers, Oregon, who served on the USS Whitney, accompanied Schab at the ceremony. 100-year-old USS Curtiss sailor Bob Fernandez had to cancel due to health reasons.

Those attending the ceremony observed a moment of silence at 7:54 a.m. as the attack began more than eight decades ago. Shortly thereafter, F-22 jets flew overhead in missing-person formation.

McAvoy writes for the Associated Press.