Watch: 97 Year-Old D-Day Veteran Reunites With Lost Love After 75 Years In Emotional Video

In 1944 during the Second World War, U.S. soldier K.T. Robbins met Jeannine Ganaye whilst stationed in northeastern France. The two quickly fell in love, but their romance was sadly cut short when Robbins was reassigned to the Eastern Front.  When the war was over, Robbins returned to United States where he got married to another woman, Lillian. Despite remaining loyal to his wife, Robbins always carried around with him (til this day a black-and-white photograph of Ganaye from when she was 18 years-old and he was 24.

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Robbins had been married to Lillian for 70 years when she tragically died in 2015. Meanwhile, 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 viewing pleasure, it was captured on video. As they embraced for the first time in over 7 decades, Robbins made the heart-wrenching statement: “I always loved you. You never got out of my heart.” To which Ganaye (a French speaker) 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.”