Coming home: Children of Pearl Harbor attacks tour former home on Hickam

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Mike Hammond
  • Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii (AFNS) --  As children of an Airman stationed at Hickam Field, Hawaii, Larry Bush and Deloris Anderson were at home the fateful morning of Dec. 7, 1941, during the surprise Japanese attack. Today, 70 years later, they finally came home.

The house where some of their earliest childhood memories were formed and some of their most enduring fears were born is still standing, like they are. And the opportunity to step back in time came during a visit to Hickam Field, now Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, ahead of the 70th Anniversary commemoration of the attacks on U.S. military forces stationed on Oahu.

On this bright, sunny, and slightly breezy Hawaiian day, an Airman and his wife opened the doors of their home, and welcomed the pair and their extended family members for a personal tour of the quarters they called home the morning of the surprise attack.

Master Sgt. Dimitri Xadzipulos and his wife, Concetta, now occupy the historic quarters, and quickly agreed to host the family during their visit.

The brother and sister pair left Oahu during evacuations in February 1942. Bush, who visited the island last year, and Anderson, who made her first return in 70 years, found many familiar sights at their former home and also said much had changed over the years.

As Concetta Xadzipulos walked them through the hallway, they looked into a small closet.

"My sister and I were stuck in that closet," Bush said.

"Well, we weren't very big then!" his sister added, as they were only 5- and 8-years old at the time.

But the significance of this visit was far more than a trip down memory lane for the pair. It brought back thoughts of the family that once was.

Their father, Master Sgt. Gerald Bush, was a telecommunications expert on Hickam Field that morning and helped restore and protect communications lines during and after the attack. He shipped off to fight in the European Theater of World War II, not long after the family left Hawaii.

"This is the last place we lived as a family," Bush said, his voice cracking with emotion. "Because after we were evacuated, my dad went to (World War II) and we never saw him after that. He didn't make it back. He died in November 1944 -- right before the Battle of the Bulge. So that's very, very, emotional."

Both Bush and Anderson said the effects of the attack on Oahu remained with them throughout their lives. According to Bush, a car backfiring 23 years later, in 1964, caused him to tell his wife to get out of the car. "I thought they were shooting at us!" he said.

Anderson, to this day, startles at loud, booming noises. "Thunderstorms are what bother me," she said.

For the Airmen of today, the visit was a way to personally meet history. The Xadzipuloses said they welcomed the opportunity to meet the people who, as young children, once survived flying bullets and shrapnel in their home.

"We had no idea about the history of our home, so it was an easy decision to have them over and we are thrilled!" Dimitri Xadzipulos said. "They lived part of history, and it is a historical event for them and for us to have them come back."