Childhood friends separated during WWII reunite after 75 years

Nick Paschal
·Supervising Producer, Yahoo Entertainment

It was a touching and improbable reunion on the premiere of Ann Curry’s new PBS show, We’ll Meet Again. After almost 75 years apart, two childhood friends who were separated during World War II were finally able to see each other once again.

Reiko Naguma is the daughter of Japanese-born parents. So when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, things became very difficult for Reiko and her family. Reiko was one of the 120,000 Japanese-Americans forced into internment camps during World War II, where she spent three long years of her young life. When she finally returned to school, her friend Mary Frances was the first child to greet her on the playground. Reiko said, “She was a very strong friend, very strong person to do what she did for me, to show her friendship at a time when it was not good to be Japanese.”

The two childhood friends, unfortunately, drifted apart after elementary school, and Reiko had wanted to reconnect with her dear friend for decades. With some help from Ann Curry and a genealogist, Reiko was able to track down Mary Frances.

The two women met in San Francisco’s famous Japanese Tea Garden, where they immediately embraced each other. Mary Frances was shocked to see her old friend, saying, “It’s unbelievable that she would come back in this manner because I had no way, that I knew of, to contact her.”

It was a very long road, but Reiko was finally able to thank Mary Frances for being there for her when she needed a friend the most. “My dream has come true to be able to say thank you so much,” Reiko told Mary Frances, “because friends are friends for always.”

We’ll Meet Again airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on PBS.

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