American World War II veteran K.T. Robbins was surprised by the French girl he fell in love with 75 years ago when he visited Europe to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

During an interview with a French journalist about World War II, Robbins, 97, held up a black-and-white photograph of Jeannine Pierson née Ganaye, whom he met in 1944 while stationed in northeastern France for the war, France 24 reported.

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The two fell in love, but the war led to their drifting apart.

“For sure, I won’t ever get to see her,” he said in the interview. “She’s probably gone now.”

The French broadcaster then decided to surprise Robbins and track down Ganaye, now 92, and reunite them after decades apart.

Video from the French news outlet shows Robbins and Ganaye embracing at Ganaye’s retirement home in Briey, France, 40 miles from where the two first met, People reports.

“I always loved you,” Robbins told her. "You never got out of my heart."

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Ganaye told reporters in French that she “always thought about him,” believing “maybe he was out there, that maybe he’d come.”

Robbins was married for 70 years before his wife died in 2015, while Ganaye was married in 1949 and had five children before her husband died, Today reports.

After spending some hours together, the two kissed goodbye, with Robbins telling Ganaye, “Jeannine, I love you, girl.”