Years ago, during World War II, an American soldier fell in love with a young French woman. Now, years later, the 98-year-old American soldier finally had a chance to see her again and tell her he still loves her. 

Their reunion took place in France on the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landing, where the two embraced for the first time in three quarters of a century – the special moment captured by French TV crews. 

When he saw her, K.T. (Kara Troy) Robbins told her, “I always loved you. You never got out of my heart.” 

He then pulled out a picture of her that he had kept all these years. 

In 1944, K.T. Robbins was stationed in Briey, in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France with his regiment during World War II. It was there that he fell in love with a young 18-year-old French girl called Jeannine.

Their relationship was cut short two months later when he had to leave and rush to the eastern front.

After he returned to America, where Robbins eventually got married, but he never forgot Jeannine, whose surname is Pierson but maiden name was Ganaye. 

Their reunion came after a French TV crew decided to do a segment on WWII veterans in America. They came across the picture of the young French woman in Robbins’ photo album. 

Robbins told the France 2 team that he wanted to go back to France to find her family.

“I probably won’t see her. She is no doubt dead,” he said to them.

However, the French journalists did some investigating, and they managed to track down the woman, and found that the 92-year-old was still alive.  

“When he left in the truck, I cried, of course, I was very sad,” Jeannine said. “I wish after the war he hadn’t returned to America.”

Following the war, Jeannine learned some English, hoping that one day he’d find his way back to her.

After spending a few hours together, Robbins had to leave to head to Normandy. The pair had agreed to meet up again, and with tears in their eyes, Robbins said to her, “Jeannine, I love you girl.” 

What an incredibly sweet love story.