U.S. veteran reunited with Filipino hero

A Filipino man says it was emotionally overwhelming to reunite in Louisiana with a World War II veteran whose life he once saved.

Jesus Gonzalez said it was an emotional event to see former U.S. Marine James Carrington for the first time since 1944 when he and several other Filipinos helped hide the soldier from Japanese troops during World War II, the New Orleans Times-Picayune said Wednesday.

Gonzalez was 11 when Carrington escaped from a Japanese prison in the Filipino city of Manila and begged Gonzalez's group for help.

Despite the potential threat to their own lives for helping a U.S. soldier, the group members agreed to help hide Carrington until he could escape the area.

Decades later, Gonzalez's daughter, Valerie, managed to locate Carrington at the Ormond Nursing and Care Center in Destrehan, La.

The Times-Picayune said it was there that the two men met again on Monday, albeit under better circumstances, and joined in a tearful embrace.

I was crying then, I was scared, Gonzalez said. Now I cry for joy.

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