Pacific Island Times November 2019 Vol. 3 No. 11 | Page 6

Brief Chat
Inside Branch
Davidian
Former Guam resident Dana Kiyabu, David Koresh’s
sixth wife, talks about her upcoming memoir
revealing her life inside the Waco cult’s compound
W
ho would have thought the
infamous Branch Davidian
cult leader David Koresh
had ties to Guam?
“I was David’s sixth wife,” said
Dana Kiyabu, who grew up on Guam.
She is a former member of the Branch
Davidian community in Waco, Tx.
Kiyabu made a three-day stopover
on Guam in October and showed up
in a church in Dededo. The Pacific Is-
land Times had a chat with her. Such a
brief interview that night ended rather
quickly before she finished her story.
The rest of the interview was done via
email from her home in Windward,
Oahu.
Koresh had multiple wives and
fathered at least 15 children. It’s been
“told that it was” part of Koresh’s re-
ligious role as the ‘Sinful Messiah’ to
impregnate young virgins. He reputed-
ly made about 400 virgins pregnant,”
according to his followers.
Kiyabu is the mother of Koresh’s
two sons, Sky Borne Okimoto, 31,
and Jared Michael Okimoto, 28. They
are both serving in the Army National
Guards as members of the 777th Avi-
ation Support Battalion at Joint Base
Pearl Harbor–Hickam in Oahu.
“They are wonderful people and I
am blessed to have them in my life,”
she said in an email to Pacific Island
Times. “Sky has a degree in Geogra-
phy; Jared is planning to move back in
with me next March to support me in
my many challenges ahead.”
The 53-year-old Kiyabu holds a
master’s in computer information sys-
tem. She came to Guam after a month-
long vacation in Australia and New
6
By Alex J. Rhowuniong
Zealand where she visited friends. Her group which eventually “went to
itinerary included Guam to reconnect
Palestine, TX., to study more.” With
with friends she grew up with. She
Koresh in her life and then living
called Guam her home for a good part in Texas, her story took a turn she
of her young life.
honestly believed would enlighten her
further and put her on a straight path
“I was visiting friends who were
to heaven.
former Branch Davidians as part of
my research for a book I’m writing,”
That unexpected turn, however,
Kiyabu said
eventually
about her trip
became years of
“There are only two
to Australia and
disillusionment
women who can write under the magic
New Zealand.
“It’s been a very
from the perspective spell of the cult
healing journey
leader.
for all of us.”
of being a part of the
“I stopped be-
Born in
lieving
when he
House of David and who
Hawaii, Kiyabu
implied he was
had his children: Robyn Jesus Christ, but
was 7 years old
when her family
took almost
Bunds and me. Robyn it a year
moved to Guam
for me
in 1972. She
has not published her to actually
attended prima-
Kiya-
story. That leaves my leave,”
ry and second-
bu told Pacific
ary schools at
voice as the first one to Island Times.
Guam Mission
“Not because I
speak on behalf of the was prevented
Academy,
known today as
from going, but
House of David.”
Guam Adventist
because I want-
Academy, where
ed to believe
graduated high school in 1983. After
again.”
high school, she moved back to Ha-
But it never happened in spite of
waii, where she attended college at the extra prayers so she could believe in
University of Hawaii in Manoa.
him again. Eventually, she and her two
Not too long after that, Kiyabu said
sons were able to finally break free
she began seriously searching for the
of Koresh’s life-altering influences.
“meaning of life.” In 1986, Kiyabu
“I simply packed up and left with my
met and got tangled up with Ver-
children— ages 3 and 9 months old. I
non Howell, better known as David
returned to my parents in Hawaii and
Koresh, the self-styled prophet who
continued nursing school.”
thought he was the new Christ.
Roughly, a year later, she and her
Before long though, Kiyabu found
children watched in horror on televi-
herself drawn into Koresh’s study
sion as the Waco compound burned to
the ground with what used to be their
family. Billed as “The Waco Siege,”
the 51-day raid—from Feb. 28 to
April 19, 1993 — by federal and local
law enforcers led to a gun battle that
killed four government agents.
Kiyabu, a registered nurse at the
Hawaii State Hospital for 25 years,
said what is known to the public today
about Koresh and the Branch David-
ian community is not the total truth.
So, she is writing a book to speak out
against the injustices of the federal
government.
Her upcoming book, Kiyabu said,
will answer a lot of questions that peo-
ple are still asking today. She hopes
it becomes a healing tool for many
people whose lives were affected by
the cult.
“After more than 25 years since the
fire consumed the Branch Davidian
community compound on April 19,
1993, I am still asked questions about
my experience: How I got involved,
how I left, and how my family is
doing today. Now that the boys have
grown up, it is time to tell the story,”
Kiyabu wrote in the proposed intro-
duction of her book.
She said there were parts of the
story that the world has never heard of
before.
“This is the story of our day-to-
day lives and how we were able to
live a relatively normal life within
our community. It is also a story of
healing, and how I dealt with re-entry
into society,” she said. “I write this for
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