Her Husband Disappeared 6 Weeks After They Got Married 70 Years Later, She Learns The Tragic Truth

her husband disappeared six weeks after they got married seventy years later she learns the tragic truth [Music] [Applause] [Music] after being apart from him from the good part of seven decades devoted wife peggy harris finally found out why her husband disappeared all those years ago despite the lack of resources peggy did all she could to trace her newlyweds whereabouts after being married for just six weeks husband billy harris would vanish for many this would be a deal breaker in one's relationship but peggy loved him so much and knew that he wouldn't just leave something didn't add up and peggy knew that she'd have to go out of her comfort zone in order to get to the bottom of this mystery the reality was painful her husband was long gone and there was no clear information indicating what may have happened despite feeling like a hopeless investigation with no clear leads peggy never gave up hope that one day she would unravel the truth of what happened to her dear husband billy peggy and billy's story is more than just a mystery it's so much more than that even without knowing what the future may hold love will always win 70 years later billy's wife has been through a lot naturally but through all the people that came and went she never gave up on her one true love their story captured the hearts of many a love story like no other teaching us that hope for a happy ending is one of the most powerful virtues let's start at the very beginning vernon texas in the 1920s this was the place and era that peggy seal grew up in she was a beautiful 18 year old and worked at the atlas oklahoma air force base as an electric instrument mechanic it wouldn't be so long though before she met billy harris his father was an assistant supervisor at the base and as soon as he met peggy he knew she was the one for his son the beautiful peggy was special she was the only female mechanic in the entire base which was strange not many women served in the army at this stage of the field that she worked in was particularly male dominated but peggy stayed true to herself and always went with her heart whether her actions were supported or not she always did what she felt was right she was a young independent woman who went against the grain peggy eventually would work alongside billy's father who worked in the propeller department and it wouldn't take long before he introduced her to his son billy was instantly floored by everything about peggy in his mind she had it all the looks the wit the charisma the heart he especially appreciated how confident she was unlike other women who were interested in more material things peggy's heart was set on serving her country the connection between the two was instant and electric but before billy laid his eyes on peggy he communicated with her through letters so technically it wasn't love at first sight and more like love at first read finally it seems like many have reverted back to the style of courting through online dating but back in the 1920s many would communicate for the first time by writing to one another especially if they lived far away from each other nevertheless they would meet in person very soon in peggy's words there was an opening in the production control office so i took that job billy's father was the assistant manager in the propeller department there soon after i came there he wanted me to write his son who was a student pilot and i let him know that i did not write to men i did not know particularly servicemen this goes to show that peggy was a class act even from an early age it wouldn't take long before billy's father informed him about this wonderful young lady and he decided to do something about it i began to get letters from billy peggy said i was a little fearful of this man who'd not seen me but he thought i was okay so when he came on leave from the army all of a sudden the door to the airplane opened and there was billy harris saying hello peggy and that was about it the pen bail arrangement made perfect sense especially because of the distance between the two billy lived relatively far from peggy in san antonio so letters were a great opportunity to get to know each other with each letter the relationship got stronger and the more comfortable they were with each other the more intimate the letters became but the letters never became inappropriate the pair simply found a healthy balance and were engaging in the normal act of courting to interact and establish such a strong connection with someone who you'd never met before must have been strange for both peggy and billy i began to get letters from billy she said i was a little fearful of this man that hadn't seen me but i thought i was okay it must have been a unique experience not knowing what someone looked like but being attracted to that person through just their words was an amazing experience peggy finally had the opportunity to put a face to the name while she was working at the air force base when he came on leave all of a sudden the door to the airplane opened and there was billy harris saying hello peggy and that was about it the pair shared one of those mysterious silences that you'd expect from a romantic drama when each person lays their eyes on another and the rest is history after peggy and billy exchange many letters the happy pair decided to take the next step in their relationship and after meeting peggy a number of times billy took the ultimate leap of faith when he proposed to her peggy didn't have to think about it she knew he was the one and gave a resounding yes on september 22nd 1943 the couple tied the knot in florida but sadly the newlyweds could not anticipate what was about to happen from a financial point of view peggy and billy were in a dire situation they were so poor that peggy was forced to use her vernon high school class ring as a wedding ring she just didn't have the money for a real ring however the financial troubles didn't affect peggy and billy's love as far as they were concerned they were destined to be together and were proud to call themselves husband and wife nothing could change that however the financial troubles would run deeper than simply whether they'd be able to afford the luxuries in life or not for example ever since peggy and billy got married they were excited to start a family but this wasn't going to be as simple as they expected because they would need the funds to provide for them and their children they agreed that billy would be the one who provided for the family this was just the start this would soon be followed by some polarizing news although billy and peggy were still celebrating after finding the respected loves of their life something else happened billy completed his pilot training for the u.s army air corps his time spent at brooksfield san antonio had paid off but with this success came more responsibilities and billy would be ranked as a second lieutenant the war had come and it was time for billy to serve his country it was a devastating blow to the new husband and wife their honeymoon was truly over in one hand the couple had made their vows to one another but on the other hand they both swore an oath to the us they promised to protect their land unfortunately the latter trumped the further and billy and peggy were forced to part ways their dreams were instantly shattered no longer able to spend time together or build a family together peggy watched silently her husband packed his bags and bit his emotional farewell life seems so unfair for billy's wife why after only meeting recently would they have to part ways so quickly but it was lieutenant philly's duty he had to serve his country and with pride peggy would have to wait for billy's return before they could start a family together the most tragic part was that both knew that they may never see each other again before we follow billy on his heroic journey let's take a look at what texas republican representative mac thornberry had to say about the incredible story in an emotional video announcement he said peggy and billy harris's love for each other their love for our country and their personal sacrifices are huge this is a beautiful and inspirational true story of commitment courage and ordinary people living extraordinary lives they truly are our greatest generation world war ii had begun and billy was just one of many americans to be drafted the best were taken from their homes and utilized because of their exceptional skill sets but billy wasn't shocked when his draft letter arrived he was sure that his time would come in an interview on a website that commemorated the 354th fighter group peggy tried to recall how she dealt with the terrible news finding out that her husband was walking away from her his group was all taken to tallahassee and the wives were taken there to a huge hotel peggy said this was followed by more instructions for billy's wife when the men were called up the wives were told to go home and not tell anyone that their husbands had been sent overseas until they arrived there safely after just six weeks of marriage they would have to part ways and there was nothing peggy or billy could do about it only once they arrived at their destination safely were the wives allowed to disclose any information about their husbands unfortunately his arrival in mainland europe would be the last indication that peggy knew whether billy was alive or not a bureaucratic faux pas on the u.s army's part meant that many worried wives would not hear back from the military about their husbands whereabouts or well-beings for long periods of time billy had completely fallen off peggy's radar the army sent lies to many wives back in the u.s and peggy was one of them although the supreme headquarters in allied france informed her that billy was safe and that there was nothing to worry about this simply wasn't true after this serious breach of trust from the military peggy realized that she needed to seek out the truth for herself whether it was his voice or a dated photograph she needed proof that her husband was at the very least okay peggy was an absolute turmoil as a result of this confusion a telegram came the moment i opened it i went to pieces she said after a while i looked at it again and i went down to the telegraph office and brought with me letters from billy that were written after the date of the telegram the telegram said missing july 7th and i had letters hand-written letters dated after that later they came up with missing inaction july 17th whatever information the military sent peggy she was ready to act upon it she wanted to get to the bottom of the problem i was told not to be concerned that no doubt he was being processed billy's parents and i chose to believe that he was back in the united states we were hoping that he was in a hospital somewhere and maybe just didn't know who he was or had lost his memory we'd heard cases like that unfortunately peggy and billy's parents couldn't change the truth her husband and their son was gone by march 1945 billy's wife knew that he was probably dead it was a catch-22 situation did she want to find out billy's fate despite the possibility that he may have perished or sit back and hope that one day he would return peggy made her decision and chose to take action contacting the international red cross she desperately wanted answers initially the first time she contacted the red cross peggy was not rewarded with positive results in fact they were originally far from helpful she recalled how the people she called gave an awfully lazy answer and for a moment she lost considerable hope in philanthropic organizations according to her after asking whether they would help her on her search for billy they simply said we cannot afford to look into this because he will come home before we can get an answer exhausting all of her options peggy tried very hard to get in touch with people in high places people who could affect change in the shortest amount of time so she turned to the texas congressman at the time ed gossett who served in congress for 12 years from 1939 to 1951. after quite some time i sent that release to ed gossett who is our congressman in washington d.c she said i asked him to look into it and see what happened it was a new chapter in her life and the international red cross was an organization that peggy could eventually trust despite the fact that the red cross could not make an official search for her husband peggy was delighted to receive vital information as a result of the red cross's findings but out of nowhere came some new data that had the potential to unlocking billy's whereabouts was peggy finally going to know the truth or would she need to carry on searching there was still no definitive answer peggy received information that was completely contradictory in nature while one report read that billy was missing the other specified that he was found and was already dead as the years passed by peggy never gave up her search many poor leads came her way and she kept bumping into dead ends it wasn't over for billy's wife until she saw his body dead or alive but it wouldn't be long until her search was over fast forward to 2005 and billy's location and fate were still a mystery congressman thornberry even mentioned billy in a speech and carelessly declared that he was m.i.a missing in action his speech was ill-informed as his team of researchers failed to give him accurate information on billy's situation eventually thornberry apologized to peggy for jumping to conclusions in regards to her husband and being so insensitive about an issue that had been going on for over 60 years but peggy didn't begrudge mack for what transpired on the contrary she knew that he was also a victim of journalists who were simply using her and billy's story to attack him they said it's our duty as journalists to expose politicians she said there's nothing more i could do they were putting this out all over the united states virtually all over the world they used me to get at mack thornberry and they got at him illegally it wasn't right despite providing a formal apology for his mishandling of the situation nothing would change the fact billy's wife still had no closure and being so faithful to her husband she deserved an answer but amazingly the truth was staring her straight in the face in the form of billy's cousin elton harvey many of billy's family like peggy searched long and hard for many years to bring him back home but to no avail but then harvey came along after looking through the department of the army's database harvey discovered something integral to the entire investigation with this vital information he had the potential to locate where his relative had been all that time and harvey wasn't the only person to use that database to search for billy a foreign french woman had been on the record after doing research on the former lieutenant but what did this mean was this an important person in billy's life it turns out that the french woman actually inquired about the information only half a year before harvey began his investigation this perplexed him he asked himself why would someone from france want to learn about a man who hasn't seen his wife in nearly 70 years this only fueled harvey's interests and after many years of an unsolved mystery it seemed like some big revelations were finally coming his way and most importantly to peggy the information actually revealed that billy was posted in the united kingdom his job was to fly daily across the english channel in a p-51 mustang ultimately billy was awarded a distinguished flying crossward as the result of his fantastic work ethic teamwork skills and exceptional piloting abilities he also received two air medals in light of his heroic efforts during his service among these wonderful accolades was some more good news coming harvey and peggy's way in july 1944 billy was granted permission to return home after completing about 100 missions elated by the news he wrote to his wife telling her how much he missed her and informed her that he was finally on his way back after all this time unfortunately fate turned its ugly head on the day of his planned sale back to the u.s the army told billy that he needed to wait a little while longer billy was completely dejected by the news he got so excited knowing he was so close to reuniting with his dear wife but because the ship was full of wounded troops billy narrowly missed out on the opportunity to return home the next ship that he could get on wouldn't depart for weeks after being through so much billy and peggy now had this obstacle to contend with and ultimately it would change their lives forever in order to pass the time while he waited for the next ship back home to his wife billy continued to serve in the army he would carry out many more missions during the week ahead this would include his final mission which would put his life on the line as he flew over the northern french town of le vents soldiers shot him down spiraling out of control billy only had a few minutes to make the most unthinkable of decisions despite being hit billy used his many years of experience to his advantage his quick fire mind provided him with two choices either he could eject himself from his plane seat saving his life in the process or he would have to remain in the crashing plane and turn it away from the innocent french civilians which would cost him his life it was the toughest decision he'd ever have to make so what did he do billy selflessly crashed his plane into a forest this way he wouldn't harm any civilian in the nearby towns one of those innocent civilians who billy happened to save was the french lady who explored his records just half a year before harvey did billy was the reason that the woman whose name was valerie kesnel was still alive the reason she was so interested in the first place was that it was nearly the 60th anniversary of the liberation of levan the terrible crash took billy's life away from him the people of levin who saw this pilot divert himself away from them knew he had saved them so the town has honored billy's life ever since because the town didn't have much information about him they just assumed billy was a french canadian who was saving his fellow francophiles despite burying him nearby and honoring him they didn't really know him ultimately it didn't matter what his nationality was or which side he fought for at any rate billy was a hero who sacrificed everything he had to live for and at such a young age he gave up the chance of reuniting with his wife peggy for people he'd never met he was known for always volunteering first when called upon for missions and being an incredibly selfless person but surely this was going too far when his wife found out about where his body was buried peggy jumped on the opportunity and flew to france to visit her long-lost love so she could be close to him billy's remains were buried in a grave at normandy american cemetery memorial he's still spoken of fondly all over normandy and according to the people at levin his grave to this day is the most decorated grave in all of normandy as far as billy's wife is concerned peggy's a regular and devoted attendee of his grave when people speak of closure there are people who have never experienced anything like this she said in an interview this story goes to show that miles in time can't break the love of some married couples peggy was always a devoted wife to billy and would love him forever she never gave up on him even after discovering the truth