{"id":877,"date":"2023-09-24T18:00:45","date_gmt":"2023-09-24T18:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/storypress.site\/?p=877"},"modified":"2023-09-24T18:00:45","modified_gmt":"2023-09-24T18:00:45","slug":"veteran-has-heartwarming-reunion-with-long-lost-love-after-70-yrs-of-searching-for-her","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/storypress.site\/?p=877","title":{"rendered":"Veteran has heartwarming reunion with long-lost love after 70 yrs of searching for her"},"content":{"rendered":"

He was afraid she thought he had abandoned her. That thought haunted 91-year-old Duane Mann for 70 years.<\/p>\n

And he thought his first love Peggy Yamaguchi had given up on him.
\nDespite, this he never gave up hope and continued to search for his lost love.<\/p>\n

But she never actually gave up on him first.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

SOURCE:FACEBOOK SCREENSHOT \u2013 BRIAN MANN<\/p>\n

He later learned that his mother\u2019s racism led her to destroy the letters Yamaguchi had written him.<\/p>\n

Mann was 22 when met Yamaguchi in Yokosuka, Japan in 1954 when stationed there with the Navy.<\/p>\n

Just after the couple found out they were going to have a child, the Navy sent Mann back to the U.S.
\nMann had planned on returning to Japan as soon as possible so that he could marry Yamaguchi.<\/p>\n

However, Mann\u2019s father ended up spending all of Mann\u2019s savings.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

SOURCE:FACEBOOK SCREENSHOT \u2013 BRIAN MANN<\/p>\n

So, when Mann returned home from the Koren war he didn\u2019t have the money to fly back to Japan.<\/p>\n

Then the letters from Yamaguchi stopped coming.
\nLittle did Man know that his mother was burning them. She didn\u2019t want him to marry a Japanese girl.<\/p>\n

But one last letter did come saying that Yamaguchi lost their baby and she had already married another.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was over, it set in that idea that I abandoned her, just wore me out,\u201d Mann told KETV. \u201cThat\u2019s not an honorable thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Mann never forgot about Yamaguchi over the years.
\nEventually, he enlisted his son to help him track her down.<\/p>\n

Mann assumed that his lost love was overseas in Japan.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

SOURCE:FACEBOOK SCREENSHOT \u2013 BRIAN MANN<\/p>\n

But she was actually just 650 miles away in Michigan where she moved with her husband who served in the Navy.<\/p>\n

With the help of his son, Mann\u2019s story about his search for Yamaguchi went viral.
\nA 23-year-old History Channel researcher picked up Mann\u2019s story and tracked Yamaguchi down after finding a 1956 article titled \u201cTokyo Bride Makes Life in Escanaba.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like it cut me right to my soul,\u201d said Theresa Wong of why she was determined to help Mann find Yamaguchi.<\/p>\n

Mann\u2019s son connected with Yamaguchi\u2019s son and planned to have the two meet.
\nThey were both extremely joyful to meet each other at a conference room at the Island Resort and Casino in Escanaba.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here to tell you that I didn\u2019t abandon you at all. I just couldn\u2019t find you,\u201d Duane told Yamaguchi. \u201cI cannot imagine carrying around that heartbreak for 70 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

He then pulled out photos he kept of her in his wallet for 70 years as an illustration of his devotion.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

SOURCE:YOUTUBE SCREENSHOT \u2013 KETV NEWSWATCH 7<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for remembering and [saving] all the pictures, you must have loved me,\u201d Yamaguchi said while embracing Mann in a hug.<\/p>\n

Apparently, Yamaguchi\u2019s affection for Mann remained as well because her son\u2019s middle name is Duane.
\nMann said that finally getting to tell Yamaguchi the truth was a \u201cfreeing experience\u201d for him.<\/p>\n