A South Jordanian couple got together during the Vietnam War

A South Jordan – Utah couple said they might never have met if it weren't for the Vietnam War, but not in the way people expect.

In a small ceremony at Daybreak on Monday, Ben and Diane Thornall are celebrating more than 50 Veterans Day together.

“I signed up three days before I was drafted,” Ben Thornall said.

Ben Thornall said he plans to serve. He was in Mexico when he got word of war, so he enlisted.

“I love this country. And so I came back. I knew it was dangerous, but I came back, and I served, and I went in and I was happy,” he said.

Ben Thornall, like himself, trained US Army helicopter pilots in Vietnam. While at a forward base in the northern part of the county, he met Diane.

“I thought I wanted to go and save the world,” Diane Thornall said.

She was not a soldier or a nurse but a “Donut Dolly”.

“There were a lot of anti-war movements and things like that. But I felt that those forces needed our support,” Diane Thornall said.

Donut Dollies They were under the American Red Cross but were assigned by the Department of Defense to boost morale in some dangerous regions. Ben Thornall said he saw his future wife in the mess hall.

“So I went up, and I had lunch, and I sat next to the cutest,” he said.

After dinner together, Ben Thornall gave her what some would consider an unusual gift.

“I gave her a can of my dry extra dry spray deodorant and it turned out to be a really good deal,” said Ben Thornall.

They started something difficult at the forward base of the army.

“None of us could see. Really. It was a shock to both of us,” Diane Thornall said.

Ben Thornall served in the Army for 22 years. But both said they served and risked their lives in the same war.

“I came under fire a couple of times,” Diane Thornall said.

During one of those clashes she was airlifted to safety.

Brought together by a couple who experienced Vietnam together, every Veterans Day is very important.

“I love this country,” said Ben Thornall.

“I'm a patriot, and I married a GI, and he dragged me around the world. And I've been happy for 54 years,” Diane Thornall added.