Their visit marks the 47th year that the 27th Infantry Regiment Wolfhounds have brought Holy Family Home orphans to visit Hawai'i.

This year, however, only a handful of members of the 27th's 2nd Battalion attended the welcoming reception for the Holy Family children. The majority of the 2-27th left for Afghanistan on March 26. Their wives and children kept up preparations for the orphans' annual visit in the soldiers' absence.

"Our commander told me that this was one of my main missions here, to maintain the relationship with the Holy Family Home," said 1st Lt. Robert Benson, the 2-27th rear detachment commander. "I think it's awesome that while the soldiers are gone, the women in the battalion really stepped up and grabbed the ball to maintain this relationship."

"I'm looking forward to swimming in the ocean," said 12-year-old Kumiko. She, 10-year-old Mizuki and 10-year-old Hiroto will split their time among seven different Wolfhound families while they are here.

The Wolfhounds' first connection with the orphanage came in 1949 when the Wolfhounds — then deployed to Japan — made a Christmas Day visit to the home. Touched by the kids and appalled at the orphanage's conditions, the soldiers started raising money for the home. Their support continued through the regiment's deployment to Korea and after the Wolfhounds returned to Hawai'i. The annual visits began in 1957.

According to retired Army Master Sgt. Hugh F. O'Reilly, 90, who led the effort to adopt the orphanage, about $1 million has been raised for the home over the years. Japanese steelmaker and WWII veteran Akio Aoyama donates $10,000 each year for gifts and transportation costs between Japan and Hawai'i.

"I don't think there's any other unit in the Army that has this unique relationship," said Cynthia Piatt, whose husband, battalion commander Lt. Col. Walter Piatt, is in Afghanistan with the 2-27th. Piatt headed up the wives' efforts to organize the annual visit. "It's wonderful that we can carry on this tradition even with the units deployed."

Sallie Whitehurst will have all three children at her home this weekend. She and her husband, Maj. Sam Whitehurst, who is deployed with the 2-27th, have four children of their own, so it will be a full house this weekend. "My kids are very excited to do this, and we just want to teach them to help others," she said. While Whitehurst was thinking about doing pedicures and bubblebaths for the two girls, she doesn't think that would go over too well with Hiroto.

"He can play on the GameCube," she said, laughing.

Retired Army Master Sgt. Hugh F. O'Reilly and Japanese orphans, from left, Hiroto Kokuro, Mizuki Kitagawa and Kumiko Nakano, cut a cake in the orphans' honor. The children are visiting Hawai'i for 12 days.

By the time they leave, the guests will have gone to Sea Life Park, Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park and the Honolulu Zoo, taken an Atlantis Submarine cruise, spent lots of time at the beach, and eaten many meals with their host families. A picnic for the orphans and all the families will be held July 31.

O'Reilly remembers the Wolfhounds' first party for the orphans on Christmas Day 1949. "We took the children to the PX and gave them whatever they wanted," he said. After the regiment went to fight the Korean War, he wasn't sure what would happen with the orphanage.

"To be perfectly honest," O'Reilly said, he was afraid that because they were fighting Asians in Korea, the soldiers wouldn't support the Asian children. "But I underestimated them," he said.

At 90, O'Reilly suffers from a number of health problems. A recent health setback worried the orphanage.

"We were concerned because he was not in good health recently," Kumiko said.

The Wolfhounds have made O'Reilly their honorary sergeant major. While they were in Afghanistan, the regiment heard that he was sick. They painted a gym and put a sign on it dedicated to O'Reilly. The deployed regiment hopes to make a visit to Japan in the winter and see the Holy Family Home children.

Reach Anna Weaver at aweaver@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2455.