(Oct. 17) -- Pete McKibben had to leave his girlfriend and unborn son behind in Vietnam 36 years ago. He's been looking for them ever since.
The former U.S. Marine had lost hope and believed his sweetheart and child had been killed in the war-torn country, reported CNN. But, decades later, an email via Facebook changed his life.
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"The email says, 'You look familiar. Were you in Vietnam or Cambodia between 1972 and '73?'" McKibben told CNN.
After swapping more emails last month, it became clear McKibben's long-lost son, Richard Nabineaux, had found the father he never met.
"And I answered back. I said, 'Well, I guess, yes, I'm the man you're looking for. I don't know what to say.' Thirty-six years later I have a son and two grandkids," McKibben told CNN.
Nabineaux, who lives in Paris with his wife and two children, had his mom by his side when he found McKibben.
"My reaction was to cry. It was a shock. I didn't know it would be that easy to find him," Nabineaux said.
Now, the family is waiting for the day they can reunite.
When they do, Nabineaux's mother, Ko Kim Lein, said she will ask McKibben to take her in his arms. "Because he didn't do that when my son was born," she said.
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