'We fell in love as Vietnam War pen pals - we've been married for over 50 years'

21 November 2023 , 19:35

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'We fell in love as Vietnam War pen pals - we've been married for over 50 years'

A couple that have been together for more than five decades credited the letters they exchanged during the Vietnam War as the beginning of their happy lives together.

Suzie Scarborough first began communicating with Wayne Wing back in 1967 after he was drafted into the army to serve during the war as a generator operator. In a stroke of fate, his sergeant sent a letter to his hometown newspaper in Texas asking for anyone willing to send letters to his unit's soldiers.

“My girlfriend and I decided ‘let’s write and just see what happens'," said Suzie, now known as Mrs Wing for the past 51 years. Her initial letters went to someone called Sam McClusky but after she sent in a photo of herself Wayne asked if he could write back to her.

Suzie Wang now (wvlt.tv)

The North Dakota pair struck up a friendship and soon began regularly writing to one another during his entire spell in Vietnam. Wayne then spent a year at Travis Air Force Base in California as their correspondence continued.

After leaving the army, Wayne made a detour to Texas to see Suzie before eventually returning to his family’s ranch in North Dakota, reports KFYR. The relationship appeared to have to come to an end following Suzie's move to Georgia and loss of contact between the two.

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Wayne Wing now (wvlt.tv)

However, Suzie could not quite let Wayne go and one day she decided to try and find him. She sent a hopeful letter addressed to 'Wayne Wing in Killdeer, South Dakota'. Bearing in mind that this wasn't even the correct state.

She said: “I sent that letter with no zip code, no nothing. I just wrote it to Killdeer, South Dakota. “And he got it. Now, if that ain’t a sign from God saying we’re supposed to be together, I don’t know what is.”

The pair began writing to each other in 1967 (wvlt.tv)

While Wayne liked Suzie’s letter as an answer to a prayer he had made. He said: "I had prayed that if Suzie was still available, I’d like to find her. I prayed for that. And the next day, I got that letter.”

Although Suzie was keen to point out the platonic nature of their friendship at the time: "“We just kept writing, and it wasn’t a mushy kind of lovey-dovey story. We were friends, just good friends and easy to talk to."

Wayne wanted to write to Suzie after she sent her photo to his army's unit (wvlt.tv)

Still, Wayne believed that there was something more than just being pen pals between them. He said “When I got that letter, I knew we were going to get married. I just had a feeling."

Wayne spent Christmas 1971 visiting Suzie and a few months later she lost her job and decided to up sticks and move to North Dakota to be with her future husband. But she admitted: “I had never been on a ranch. I didn’t know the difference between a horse and a cow."

Wayne was a general operator during the Vietnam War (wvlt.tv)

She moved in during March 1972 and a month later the couple were married. Wayne said: “It was meant to be. I’ve always thought that.” While Suzie added: “For everything that went on between us to get us married, it was God’s work."

Now, more than half a century after they tied the knot the pair are still as much in love as they were back then. But their history together is entwined in the letters they first wrote to each other during the 1960s and they serve as a reminder of what made them fall in love in the first place.

The couple lost touch for a while but fate brought them back together (wvlt.tv)

Suzie and Wayne now say they’ve tried to find McClusky on numerous occasions over the years - but without any luck so far. The only information they have aside from his name is that he came from Missouri. The couple would love to simply thank him for allowing Wayne write to Suzie, if they ever get the chance...

Steven White