A charter flight of 144 U.S. military dependents — and 18 pets — leaving Japan as part of a voluntary evacuation initiative arrived Thursday afternoon at Denver International Airport.
Mothers held babies and kids hugged stuffed animals and carried backpacks as the weary passengers got off the Delta airliner at 12:55 p.m.
They entered a hangar to applause from the waiting members of every military branch, the USO, the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, as well as other volunteers, all ready to help.
“Welcome to Denver,” one woman shouted.
Most of the passengers were from Yokota Air Base in Japan, but U.S. Army Col. Marc Hutson, defense coordinating officer for FEMA Region 8, said family members from any base in Japan who wish to leave will be brought stateside.
He expects a few more groups to land in Denver before the U.S. Defense Department’s “Operation: Pacific Passage” concludes later this week.
Since Saturday, thousands of U.S. military dependents have been moved out of Japan in an effort intended to help reduce the demand on the Japanese government for food, water, fuel and electricity in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
All four branches of the U.S. military have installations in Japan. Denver is one of four participating airports; the others are in San Francisco, in Seattle and at Travis Air Force Base in California.
The passengers landing in Denver on Thursday cleared customs in Seattle, where they were also tested for radiation.
The group left Japan at 11 p.m. Mountain time on Wednesday. Eleven hours later, they were in Denver — and one step closer to family here in the States.
“We’re here to process them and then help them get to their final destination anywhere in the U.S.,” Hutson said.
As soon as they arrived, the passengers were told they had all been booked on flights.
Home for Brandi King means Olive Branch, Miss., where her in-laws live. Her husband, U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jim King, is stationed at Yokota.
Like the other passengers, King knows the trip back to the States is only temporary. Not knowing when she and her two children can return to Japan to reunite with her husband — who is helping bring the nuclear-plant situation under control — brings a little anxiety.
“The last thing you want to do is leave family and friends,” she said. “I know the job he is doing is necessary.”
A native of Utah, King was making her first visit to Denver.
“I miss the mountain air,” she said. “This is awesome.”
Others, too, were upbeat about the situation, given the circumstances.
“It’s not normal, but compared to what the Japanese people are going through, it’s fine,” said Crystal Bargatze, who was awaiting processing with her son, Owen, 4, before heading out to Summerville, S.C.
The kids had a bouncy castle and a TV to watch cartoons to help pass the time.
A doctor and medical staff were on hand, showers were available, and volunteers handed out prepaid calling cards in case Japanese cellphones were incompatible or had died on the long flight.
There was even a place to walk the pets, which were shipped in pet crates.
None of the dependents was from the Denver area.
“We think of them as our own,” Hutson said of the arriving passengers. “It’s peace of mind for these families, No. 1.”
From Denver, the volunteers will help the dependents go on to such places as Salt Lake City, San Diego and the Washington, D.C., area.
“By tomorrow evening,” Hutson said Thursday, “they will all be home.”
Carlos Illescas: 303-954-1175 or cillescas@denverpost.com
