It was more than 70 years ago when Norwood Thomas received his D-Day orders and saw Joyce Morris for the last time.

Now 93 years old, Thomas is making a two-day journey with his son to Australia to reunite with Morris for the first time in more than 70 years. “I’d rather die traveling to Australia than live sitting around at home wondering, ‘What if?’”

Thomas was a 21-year-old paratrooper in the U.S. Army when he first met a 17-year-old Morris in London. He described her as “the one that got away.” The two dated until finally the war forced them apart.

Throughout the war, Thomas carried a photo of Morris, which he stills has to this day. The two wrote frequently after the war. Thomas even asked Morris to move to America and marry him. Morris misunderstood the letter and thought Thomas had found someone else. That’s when the letters stopped.

The two eventually moved on with their lives. They both married and raised families of their own. Eventually, Thomas’ wife died in 2001 and Norris divorced her husband of 30 years, leaving both with plenty of time to reminisce and wonder what had happen to the other.

Morris asked her son to search the Internet and see if he could find Thomas.

Morris’ son found him in The Virginian-Pilot newspaper’s D-Day series called “The Lucky Few.”

Her son contacted Thomas’ son and they arranged a Skype call where the two former lovers briefly reunited on a one-hour call. The story became viral. People from all over the world donated money to help fund Thomas’ trip to Australia with New Zealand Air arranging the flight.

Thomas said he’s excited to see Morris again. “I’m just looking forward to seeing her smile,” he said. “I have no idea if there’ll still be romantic feelings. But at the very least, I’ll get to spend time with an old friend. Just sitting and reminiscing will be wonderful.”

The Reunion.