A FRIENDSHIP forged in war has led to an enduring partnership in peacetime.
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Yackandandah’s Ann Rushton began writing to soldiers serving in the Vietnam conflict about 50 years ago after watching a television show seeking people to help boost their morale.
She wrote to two soldiers.
Her second penpal, Laurie Rushton, became her husband soon after and they have now been married for nearly 48 years.
“In his first letter to me he asked about sex, religion and politics,” she recalled.
“I came from a prim and proper upbringing and I wasn’t an authority on any of that but he asked me if I could visit his mother in Sydney to reinforce that he was okay.”
Warrant officer class 2 Rushton vetted the Dear Soldier letters at his taskforce headquarters and wrote to a few women, but he was impressed with Ann’s pledge to visit his family.
“On the day she met them my mum’s de facto husband said to Ann: ‘Laurie’s going to come home, fall in love with you and marry you’,” WO2 Rushton said.
Four years older than WO2 Rushton, Mrs Rushton didn’t even consider a romance but continued to send him letters, telegrams, tapes and boiled fruit cake.
Having served in Vietnam from mid-1967 until May 1968, WO2 Rushton turned up unannounced to the Sydney dress shop where his future wife was working on the day he got home.
“I fell in love with her the moment I saw her,” he said.
“I told her I’d ring her if I could find sixpence. Then she went to the back of the dress shop and came back with five cents.”
When WO2 Rushton was posted to Singapore, Mrs Rushton missed him more than she imagined.
“In six weeks I lost a stone and a half and I realised what he meant to me,” she said.
The couple wed on June 14, 1969, with only a few hitches.
As Mrs Rushton was returning to Singapore she needed vaccinations. Unfortunately Mr Rushton supplied her with the medical requirements for Vietnam.
“On our wedding day my arm was sore from the needles, but I never forgave him for the yellow fever!”
The couple moved to Wodonga in late 1976. They had a son, Chay, and adopted another, Nathan, after still births and miscarriages.
“We’re all put on this earth for a reason – you have hiccups and fantastic experiences – for each hiccup we learn something,” she said.