U.S. soldier K.T. Robbins met Jeannine Ganaye in 1944 while stationed in northeastern France during World War II. The two fell in love, but their romance was cut short when Robbins was assigned to fight on the Eastern Front.
When the war was over, Robbins returned to United States where he got married to another woman. Despite having a constant of their brief love affair in the form of a black-and-white photograph of the two of them together when he was 24 years old and she was 18, Robbins went on to marry Lillian.
They were married for 70 years when Lillian died in 2015. Ganaye got married in 1949 and had five children prior to her husband's death.
Last week, a French television station coordinated their reunion for the first time in 75 years, and for our emotional pleasure, it was captured on video. As they embraced, Robbins said, "I always loved you. You never got out of my heart." She responded, telling reporters, "He said he loves me. I understood that much."
As the two recounted their whirlwind romance, Pierson recalled their last interaction as Robbins left in a truck, telling Today, "I cried, of course, I was very sad. I wish, after the war, he hadn’t returned to America." Robbins added, "I told her maybe I'll come back and take you, but it did not happen like that."
It didn't happen 75 years ago, but at least, they got a chance to see each other one more time.
