KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- This Valentine’s Day we would like to celebrate the love of two Keesler couples. Below is the story of retired Master Sgt. Kenneth Flynn, an EMSEC instructor.
Kenneth Flynn met his wife while he was stationed at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany in October 1983. Flynn was 22 at the time and his now wife, who was born and raised in Thailand, was 18. She had come to Germany on a tourist visa only knowing a few words in English to visit her aunt and uncle who were also stationed at Spangdahlem.
After six weeks of dating, Flynn knew his girlfriend would have to return to Thailand. He thought, “If I would marry her, she would be able to stay with me in Germany and get to see snow.”
He asked her family for permission to propose, and with their blessings, the two were off to wed. The city of Nykøbing Falster, Denmark was having a promotion that stated if a couple stayed in the country for three days, the city would marry them for free. Flynn bought their train tickets and headed to Nykøbing Falster.
Navigating the European rail system proved to be a task for the young couple, and they were on the lookout for their stop in Cologne. After spotting a sign that read “Koln,” Flynn told his fiancée they needed to stop there.
After stepping off the train with luggage in hand, the train doors shut behind Flynn – his fiancée was not next to him. She was stuck on the train with no money, tickets or passport.
Upon realizing he was not in Cologne, but at a sub-station outside the city, Flynn decided he would have to call the police for help. He picked up his suitcase and began to walk away when he heard his fiancée call his name. Flynn expected to see her head sticking out of the departing train’s window, but instead he saw her laying across the train tracks.
After being unable to open the train door once it shut, she ran to a door opposite the platform and jumped off the moving train. Flynn ran to his injured fiancée and soon, they were on another train to Cologne.
After several more stops, including a surprise ferry ride, the two arrived in Denmark. The night before the wedding ceremony, Flynn’s fiancée upsettably decided she had changed her mind and would return to her family in Thailand.
By morning, Flynn convinced her to stay with him and they walked to the courthouse to be married. The newlyweds returned to their tiny apartment in Germany where they stayed for two more years before coming back to the states.
The two have been together now for 33 years, traveled to many countries, raised two children and “have had many more adventures.”