DuPage family fled Japan, but eager to go back
For the past 10 years, Downers Grove native Heather Carstens has followed her Navy lieutenant husband to assignments in California, Virginia, and most recently, Japan.
But after the recent earthquake disaster there and threat of radiation that has followed, she’s back home in DuPage County — for now.
Carstens and her three children returned to the suburbs March 18 after following voluntary evacuation orders from officials at the Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Japan, about 45 minutes from Toyko. Her husband Ryan, also a Downers Grove native, has been stationed at Atsugi the past eight months as a landing signal officer on the USS George Washington.
The base is about 150 miles from the quake’s epicenter, and wasn’t directly affected. But there have been low levels of radiation detected in the air, causing Carstens and most of the 5,000 people who live on the base to leave as a precaution.
Most of the 2,000 active duty personnel on the base, like Ryan Carstens, have been temporarily assigned to a base in Guam.
Since the earthquake struck March 11, aftershocks all around the country have become “a way of life,” Heather Carstens said. So when she got off a connecting flight from San Francisco last week, she said she felt relieved and safe.
“It felt good to be on ground that wasn’t shaking anymore,” she said.
Carstens and her three children — Brenna, 7, Delaney, 4, and Chase, 2 — are staying with her parents Liz and Greg Turnbaugh at their Westmont home. The Carstens were only allowed to take four bags with them, while their house and belongings remain at the base in Japan. The evacuation order was only for a 30-day period, but Carstens said she thinks they won’t return until the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is secure.
“I think it’s still safe to live on the base. But I don’t want to go back until the power plant is up and running again. Until that’s secure, I wouldn’t feel safe,” she said. “It’s hard being here and not knowing for how long. I’m on a one month mindset right now.”
In the meantime, Carstens has enrolled Brenna at a local elementary school so she can finish first grade. Her school at the military base remains open, though attendance is low, Carstens said. The U.S. Department of Defense gave evacuating families letters to help expedite the enrollment process at local schools.
The Navy is also giving families a 30-day per diem to help with expenses.
When Carstens’ husband graduated from the NROTC program at Iowa State University in 2001, she thought he would fulfill a seven-year commitment in the Navy, and then become a commercial pilot. But he ended up staying longer, and though she said it’s hard being away from family, they like the Navy and being in Japan.
“We feel very fortunate that we were able to live there,” Carstens said. “It’s a great country, great culture and great people. We’re hoping to go back sooner than later. It’s devastating to know what they’re going through.”