WWII sweethearts reunited after 72 years

More than seven decades apart did not change the memories that 88-year-old Joyce Morris had of her wartime American paratrooper sweetheart.

On Feb 10, Morris reunited with her long-lost love, former US serviceman Norwood Thomas, in Adelaide after spending the past 72 years without any contact.

Thomas was a 21-year-old paratrooper when he met British girl Morris, then 17 years old, near London during World War II in 1944, News.com.au reported.

After the war ended, Thomas returned to the US but the two still wrote letters to each other.

Thomas even asked Morris to move to the US to marry him. However, she declined as she had just begun her training as a nurse.

The pair eventually stopped exchanging letters and later married other people.

According to The Irish Times, Thomas' wife died in 2001 while Morris and her husband ended their marriage after 30 years together.

Last year, Morris asked one of her sons to look up her former flame on the Internet, Sky News reported.

He found Thomas' name in a The Virginian-Pilot newspaper article about the war and soon, the two reconnected on Skype with help from their children.

Sky News reported that Air New Zealand sponsored first-class air tickets for Thomas and his son, Steve, who lives with his father and looks after him, to fly to Adelaide for the reunion.

The reunited duo reportedly plan to spend Valentine's Day together.

And as if that isn't touching enough, Thomas also told The Virginian-Pilot: "I'd rather die travelling to Australia than live sitting around at home wondering 'what if?'"

ssandrea@sph.com.sg