Life has a way of sometimes doing things that we could never expect. We then have the choice of whether to live with what happened or to try to get beyond it.

Peggy Harris and Billie D. Harris from Vernon, Texas experienced a love story that is worthy of a Hallmark novel, but that story took a turn that neither could have anticipated. They were only married for six weeks when Billie went off to war and he never returned.

Peggy had a choice to make. She could either move on with her life and pick up the pieces or she could try to hold on to what she had. She made the decision to stay faithful to him forever and for 60 years, she has never married.

In addition to not marrying, she has also done what she can to uncover the secret of why he disappeared during the war. It happened in June 1944, when the final call for the Allied invasion of Normandy, France was given by Gen. Dwight Eisenhower. A number of American soldiers were sent to the area ahead of time, and that included first Lieut. Billy.

As a fighter pilot, he was called to try to get control over the Nazi forces that were in the area. He was a courageous fighter and his mission took place over occupied northern France on July 17, 1944.

Unfortunately, he never returned from the mission and Peggy waited years to hear from her husband. During all that time, there was no explanation as to what happened to him during the war.

Even though she was lacking answers, she stayed faithful to him and never remarried. She said: “Billie was married to me all of his life, and I choose to be married to him all of my life.”

There were some reports from the United States but they were misleading and confusing. Officially, he was considered missing in action and then there were reports that he was alive and coming home. Later, Peggy got a letter that said he was killed and buried in a cemetery.

A second letter followed that said he was buried in another cemetery. She grew tired of the reports that conflicted with each other but she continued to wait. For six decades, she waited but there was no answer.

Eventually, she wrote to her congressman and continued to write to him demanding answers. She received a reply from her Congressman saying that Billie was still listed as “missing in action” in the National Archives.

In addition, Billy’s cousin also started looking for information. Alton Harvey was just as disturbed over his disappearance and he didn’t feel it was right that his cousin went to war and didn’t come back. He requested and received his military records.

That is when he learned that the Congressman had never checked the records. Billy was listed as killed in action in the national registry. The documents also said that his grave was located in the American cemetery in Normandy, France.

When Peggy learned about the grave, she went to visit. The groundskeepers said that she was the only remaining widow to visit her spouse’s grave.

10 times a year she would send flowers when she wasn’t able to take them herself. It was the most decorated grave in Normandy.

There were still some things that Peggy didn’t know. For example, when his plane went down in a small village, Les Ventes, France, they named a street after him. The townspeople had always honored his sacrifice every year.

When they buried Billy, they did so with great respect but they thought he was Canadian. It wasn’t until 2004 that they learned he was an American and sent the information to US officials.

Peggy was able to visit the town in June 2012. The townspeople told her that her late husband maneuvered the aircraft so that lives were saved when it crashed into the village. They felt he was a hero and celebrated his life several times per year.

This was a relief to Peggy, who now had answers to questions she had for so many years. It is certainly something that was well deserved for her to know.