Long lost lovers 91-year-old Duane Mann and 91-year-old Peggy reunited after 70 years.
A video of this heartwarming reunion and closure has resurfaced online and has taken the internet by storm.
Duane from the United States lived most of his life worried and carrying strong guilt of making her long lost feel like he had abandoned her.
The last time Duane saw Peggy was in 1954. Duane was then stationed in Japan where he first met Peggy and completely fell in love with her.
Peggy was pregnant with their child when the 22-year-old Duane was ordered by the Navy to go back to the US.
“The Korean War was over, and the military was bloated, so to save money they started discharging people early,” Duane told The Washing Post.
He had a plan to use his savings from his bank account to bring his new love to America.
However, when he got back to the US, he discovered that his father had spent all his savings.
The couple kept in touch via letters, but after a month, Peggy stopped replying. Duane found out later that his mum had burned them all since the family was against him marrying a Japanese girl.
His sister secretly gave him one last letter from Peggy that arrived a few months later. In the letter, she told her that she had lost their baby and she had married someone else.
"It was over. It set in that idea that I abandoned her and just wore me out. It's not an honourable thing to do," Duane recalled.
Duane thought Peggy was away in Japan all these years, but it turns out she was just some states away from him - they were both in America.
He tried searching for her numerous times to let her know that he had not abandoned her and that he never found her, and he wanted to say that in person.
"I prayed that I would be able do that face on face" the 91-year-old told KETV.
After 70 years, with the help of his son, the news channel, and many people involved in the search on Facebook, this reunion was possible.
KETV posted about his story, which grabbed the attention of media worldwide, including Japanese media who all shared.
A few days later, the new channel got in touch with Peggy's son and connected him with Duane's son, helping them set up a reunion between their parents. Both the sons were extremely supportive of this reunion.
This was something Duan was hopeful for and was waiting for 7 decades.
They got a beautiful closure as they talked and reminisced about their time together in Japan and cleared out things.
Duane showed photos of her that he had kept all this time safely with him in his wallet for 70 years and finally got to tell her what he had been wanting to say all this time.
"I thought about that all my life, I was worried that you thought that I abandoned you. And I'm here to tell you that I didn't abandon you at all. I just couldn't find you" Duane told Peggy.
"With all of that and it's remembering. Save all the pictures, you must have loved me!" Peggy told Duane.
"Yes, I did" Duane told Peggy.
"It's really been a freeing experience for me," Duane said,
When asked if Peggy ever felt abandoned, she said no.
She was rather touched that even after all these years, he still kept her photos that she gave him.
In remembrance of her love for Duane, Peggy named one of her son's middle name 'Duane'.
"D-U-A-N-E" Peggy's son Mike spells out loud.
"Now I just came to light how I really got that name, and it wasn't by happenstance, for a reason, I believe," he added.
