MOBILE, Alabama --

It was a reunion Henry Jones had waited nearly 70 years for. A face from the past. A face he hasn't seen since World War II.

"Since December 1945," said Jones.

That is until a picture of Riley Pettis turned up in the local paper.

I figured I might see him again someday, but I didn't think it'd be on the front page of the paper," said Jones.

The story in the Mobile Press Register was about the latest Honor Flight. Through that connection and the help of family, the two men were finally able to reunite.

"My dad would start talking about the old times in the Army, and it would usually involve Mr. Pettis," said Henry's son, Robert Jones.

It turns out that for the last seven decades, these two war buddies had been living just a few minutes away from each other; Riley Pettis in Mobile, and Henry Jones in Chickasaw.

"I thought about him a lot. He stayed on my mind a lot. I figured I'd run across him one day," said Pettis.

Riley Pettis has a lot of fond memories of his friend, from their days training together in Las Vegas.

"If he's around, you knew him. We went to training together. Lost him there for about 70 or 80 years," he laughed.

A lot has happened to them since the war: careers, wives, kids, even great grandkids. It's certain they have a lot of catching up to do.

By Lauren Vargas

Source: wkrg.com