In a sweet and touching reunion, 97-year-old American World War II veteran was reunited with a 92-year-old French woman he fell in love with 75 years ago.
KT Robbins and his first love Jeannine Ganaye had been apart for long 75 years before they were finally reunited on the 75th D-Day anniversary.
It was the year 1944 when Mr. Robbins first laid eyes on then-18-year-old Jeannine while visiting her hometown of Briey in northeastern France.
The pair quickly became an item but went on separate paths months later when the young soldier had to head out to fight the Germans.
“I told her maybe I’ll come back and take you, but it did not happen like that,” the veteran said in an interview with France 2.
“When he left in the truck I cried, of course, I was very sad,” Jeannine added. “I wish, after the war, he hadn’t returned to America.”
After the war ended, Jeannine Ganaye, now Pierson, enrolled in an English class in order to learn the language in case Robbins returned. He, however, had different plans for the future.
After getting back to his home country, the soldier, who served in the 26th infantry, met Lillian who he married and stayed with for 70 years.
As for Jeannine, she fell in love and got married four years after Robbins left the country. She also became a mother-of-five.
Despite going their separate ways, the pair never forgot about each other. For decades, Robbins has been keeping a B&W picture of Jeannine to preserve the memory of her.
The veteran even brought the photo with him and showed it to the journalists when he attended the D-Day anniversary. After pleading for help to see his first love once again, the journalists helped track down 92-year-old Jeannine to the town located just 27 miles from where the two met.
In the touching reunion, KT and Jeannine immediately recognized and embraced each other. Gazing into his past lover’s eyes, Robbins said: “I always loved you. You never got out of my heart.” He also showed her the picture of her that he’d been keeping all those years.
After spending a few hours in each other’s company, the pair, now both widowed, vowed to see each other again.
“Jeannine, I love you girl,” the veteran added before leaning towards Jeannine and kissing her for the first time in 75 years.
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