Valentine’s Day will now get a whole different meaning for this couple. After 70 years apart, the 93-year-old World War II veteran, Norwood Thomas has reunited with his old beloved sweetheart Joyce Durrant Morris of 88 years old.
For the first time in many years and after a 10,000-mile long flight from the United States to Australia, the U.S. Army veteran was able to finally reunite with his wartime girlfriend after having recently reconnected online.
The moment they saw each other faces, they remained speechless as they shared a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek. Their emotional encounter in Adelaide was captured on video by a local TV station.
“This is about the most wonderful thing that could have happened to me,” Thomas said, in a reunion broadcast on Australia’s TV show The Project. “Good, we’re going to have a wonderful fortnight,” Morris replied while happily laughing.
Their story began in the spring of 1944 in London. Morris was 17 and Thomas a 21-year-old paratrooper when they first met. After few months of dating, they had to separate when Thomas was forced to leave to the Battle of Normandy in France, as he told ABC News.
After the war, Thomas returned to the U.S and they exchanged letters. He asked Morris to come to the U.S. to marry him, but she misunderstood and thought he had found someone else.
Years went by and the two lived separate lives, married other people and formed families. Thomas’ wife died 15 years ago and Morris was married for 30 years until she divorced her husband.
Morris asked one of her sons to help her track Thomas down, and he found Thomas’ son contact information online. The children reconnected their parents through Skype and they have shared many conversations before reuniting in person.
Thomas was able to travel to Australia thanks to hundreds of people who made donations online after reading their story. Air New Zealand airlines made arrangements to fly Thomas and his son first class and totally free of charge.
https://youtu.be/S3UjepOjuaM
Source: ABC News