War veteran found his beloved on the other side of the world after 70 years
It was a hot dry morning on the south coast of Australia when Norwood Thomas and his son Steve arrived at the right address. After 70 years apart and four flights, one of which lasted 16 hours, a 93-year-old World War II veteran from Virginia Beach will meet his beloved, with whom he lost contact after the end of the war.
“I'd rather die on the flight than sit here and think: what if? ..” - said an excited Norwood, before leaving for Australia.
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Norwood Thomas and Joyce Duran first met in London shortly before the Normandy landings. 17-year-old Englishwoman Joyce at that time bore the surname Morris. Thomas was then 21 years old, he was a paratrooper from the 101st Air Division. Norwood remembers the day and affectionately calls Joyce "beautiful".
Norwood and his friend Jack were on official leave and walking along the Thames when Joyce first saw him. She, along with her friend Iris, wanted to rent a boat. Joyce and Norwood started talking. They went on a boat trip together and from that moment on they tried to spend every free minute together.
In May 1944, Thomas Norwood was ordered to join the Allied forces for the Normandy landings. On the night of June 6, he landed on the coast of France, which was controlled by the Nazis, to take part in the fighting. Norwood was one of those lucky ones who managed to survive. Joyce was waiting for his return in London.
In 1945, Thomas received an urgent order to return home to America. Joyce and Norwood never saw each other again.
“At the end of the war, we were sent home very quickly. Joyce and I didn’t even have time to say goodbye,” Norwood recalls.
Then they wrote letters to each other for a while. Norwood even offered Joyce to move to America and become his wife. But there was one of those jokes of fate that, after many, many years, seem terribly offensive and unfair: Joyce misunderstood Norwood's letter and decided that her lover had found himself another girl. And she stopped writing.
Time passed, both lived their own lives: they built a career, started families, both had children. Norwood's wife passed away in 2001. Joyce divorced her husband.
Last year, Joyce asked one of her sons to find Norwood on the Internet. She heard about him in a news report about an 88-year-old veteran who went skydiving. Even after so many years, she remembered that Norwood Thomas had always been a risk taker.
Joyce persuaded her son Rob to call Norwood. Thomas was in the store when the bell rang. "Joyce Duran?" - the veteran thought for a while, hearing such a familiar name in combination with such an unusual surname, but after a second he exhaled excitedly: “Oh my God!” On the same day he came home and immediately pulled out a stack of old photographs from the closet. He searched for something among the black-and-white photographs for a long time and finally pulled out a portrait of Joyce. She gave him a picture as a keepsake before he left for Normandy.
Norwood and Joyce soon got on a Skype call. Joyce is now 88 years old and has poor vision. For two hours they chatted, laughed out loud and reminisced about the time they had spent together, even though much had already been mercilessly erased by time.
Very quickly, their story became public, and people began to donate money to help Norwood travel to the other side of the world and meet his beloved. "This is so touching. I want people to know that everything worked out, he is on his way!” says Norwood's son Steve.
“I'm looking forward to seeing her smile. I don't know if there are any other romantic feelings between us. At least I'll meet an old friend. Simple conversations and memories will be enough,” Norwood’s voice sounds excited.
Despite the two-day flight, Norwood and his son went to Joyce's immediately after landing. As they got to the place, the veteran recalled: “We said goodbye as if we would see each other in a week, but in the end we never met again.”
When Joyce saw Norwood, she couldn't help but smile. “Still, you’re a big man,” she remarks caustically, but kindly. They hug each other tightly and kiss each other on the cheeks.
They giggle like teenagers, interrupting each other. They tell each other everything and constantly hold hands. They are no longer young lovers, their faces show wrinkles - proof that seven decades have passed since their last meeting.
Joyce asks Norwood if he thinks she's just as beautiful. “I will tell you yes,” the man says. Joyce blushes and calls Norwood a liar. But he smiles anyway.
Keywords: Veteran | Meeting | World War II | Love