Pearl Harbor Survivor, 103, Recounts Attack He 'Can't Forget' Ahead Of 84th Anniversary

Ken Schubring, now 103, still remembers the shock of Dec. 7, 1941. Speaking with WANF-TV as the 84th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack approached, Schubring recalled finishing his guard duty that morning and heading to breakfast when an explosion rocked the bunkers shortly before 8 a.m.

"The sky was full of airplanes, dive bombers. I hit the deck, crawled to a ditch nearby… and stayed there until the first wave had finished," he told an audience at a Veterans Day ceremony at the National WWII Museum.

In a separate interview with CBS News, Schubring said the attack is something he "can't forget," even now. He is one of roughly 13 living Pearl Harbor survivors as the anniversary approaches.

A Long Record Of Service

Schubring enlisted at 17, saying at the time it felt like something that was going to happen and "wasn't much of a decision to be made." After Pearl Harbor, he served as a flight engineer on B-29 bombers in the Pacific theater. "We'd fly straight over Iwo Jima or around it to our targets," he told WANF, describing the missions as individual bombing runs.

He also remembers where he was when Japan's surrender was announced: "About two hours into our return from a bombing raid over Osaka … the radio announced Emperor Hirohito had asked for an armistice. The war was over," Schubring said.

Life After Service

After leaving the military, Schubring remained active in his community. While serving as school board president in Athens, Georgia, he worked to advance racial integration in local schools — a stance that drew hostility at the time but one his family says he never wavered from. His son, Ken Schubring Jr., told CBS he hopes Americans continue to remember the sacrifices made at Pearl Harbor and in the years that followed.

Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn helped Schubring attend a recent WWII Museum ceremony and posted on X (formerly Twitter): "God bless the veterans who have served our country so courageously."

As the nation marks another anniversary, Schubring's account is a personal reminder of the day that reshaped American history and of a life spent in service — both in uniform and in his community.