MITCHELL, S.D. (KELO) — A Vietnam veteran from Mitchell has been reunited with a woman he met all the way back in 1969.

The two reconnected after he found a book he had been waiting for her to publish for over five decades.

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Their reunion has been one big twist of fate.

About 56 years ago, Jim Anderson was serving in Vietnam but was granted a rest and relaxation trip to Australia. That’s where he met Australian native Robyn Wood.

“I persuaded her to spend some time with me. We went to a movie, Romeo and Juliet,” Anderson said.

During their time together, Wood mentioned that her father, Stanley Bond, was writing a memoir of his time as a prisoner of war in World War II. Bond was a medic in the New Zealand Army before being captured by the Germans.

The story piqued Anderson’s curiosity because he’s always had an interest in World War II. His uncle was killed while serving in the war. Eventually, Anderson and Wood went their separate ways, but Anderson spent over 50 years waiting for the memoir to be published.

“I would guess that I looked, when the computers got a little better, I had a total of, 15-20 times I probably looked for this book over this period of time,” Anderson said.

“It wasn’t until I retired that I was in a position to be able to spend some time putting the book together,” Wood said.

Wood estimates it took her six to seven years to edit the book called Twists of Fate. The book covers her father’s life before, during and after the war and came out in August of last year.

Finally, Anderson had what he was looking for.

“I had hit the jackpot,” Anderson said.

Then, Anderson reached out to Wood.

“In an email I sent to her, I said I think it’d be fun to compare life stories over this past 56 years,” Anderson said.

“Well, at first, I was a little bit suspicious of someone saying that they had met me 55 years ago and waiting for the publication of a book, but then, when Jim sent me the photo of the two of us in Sydney, I was thrilled,” Wood said.

Anderson and his wife, Joan, invited Wood to South Dakota. The trio has visited the Badlands, Mount Rushmore and the Corn Palace, among other places. It’s been an experience that Wood won’t soon forget.

“It’s meant a lot to me to feel that someone has really appreciated my father’s story but also just two lovely people whose company I’ve really enjoyed,” Wood said.

You can find details about Wood’s book Twists of Fate here.