(KETV) — A Korean war veteran was recently reunited with his first love, whom he'd been trying to reach for 70 years.
Duane Mann and Peggy Yamaguchi fell in love a lifetime ago in Japan.
They'd planned to marry, but Duane was shipped back to the U.S., where he discovered his father had spent the savings that he'd planned to use to start a life with Peggy.
He also found his mother was burning Peggy's letters.
They each married others and had children, but Mann spent decades hoping to find Yamaguchi and explain.
Thanks to their children and to journalists from all over the world, he finally got his chance.
"I've thought about that all my life — worried that you thought that I abandoned you. I'm here to tell you that I didn't abandon you at all. I just couldn't find you," said Mann.
He shared with Yamaguchi that he kept photos of her in his wallet for years.
And Yamaguchi shared that she had named her son Duane.
