Long-Awaited Homecoming At Pearl Harbor For Woman With Ties To News 9

A Missouri woman with ties to News 9 just returned from a homecoming in Hawaii that was a long-time coming.

Mary Ann Shaw is my mother. She and several extended family members were on the island of Oahu in Hawaii last week. Mom's family lived in military housing at Hickam Air Field next to Pearl Harbor when it was attacked by Japanese war planes on December 7, 1941. Mom's family's home was actually hit by Japanese gunfire during the attack. She says it's an experience she will never forget.

"The sky was just black with all the burning, and they kept coming in waves," she said. "The fear was they would return that evening and invade the island."

Mom's family eventually moved from Hawaii to southeast Missouri in 1945. Mom married my dad Dr. Robert C. Shaw in 1955. They were married 55 years, until dad died on Good Friday, 2010.