For soldiers serving in World War II, putting pen to paper was one of the only ways to keep in touch with family back home. But, for a local woman, a one-page letter from war sparked a special connection to a family that lives an ocean away.

Excerpt from Letter:
"Good evening, honey. Sorry I didn't have a chance to write to you last night."

Jane Matchey never knew the man who wrote those words.

"My father was killed in World War II during the Battle of the Bulge three months before I was born,” she said.

But to this day, they still warm her heart.

"The letter is very special, but I think what's happened because of that letter is even more special.”

Before he died in World War II, Jane’s father – Henry – stayed with a family in the Netherlands. He also left something very special behind.

"Lando's grandmother went up to clean the room and found this letter that he had written to my mother,” Jane said.

"My grandma stored the letter for 60 years, more than 60 years, and then she passed it down to me,” added Lando Mulleneers.

Once he got the letter, Lando – who lives with his family in Holland – says he knew what he had to do.

"We've got to track down the family,” Lando said. “That's where the letter belongs."

After some searching on the internet, Lando found Jane – who still lives in her hometown of Independence.

And, the rest, as they say, is history,” said Jane.

Two years ago, Jane went to Holland to meet Lando and his family. This month, the Mulleneers made the trip across the Atlantic.

"It feels like family,” Lando said. It feels that we are close friends even though we live on the other side of the ocean."

"I feel like this is another son, and their children are my grandchildren,” Jane added.

And it all started with a love letter.

Excerpt from Letter:
"Good night now, sweetness. I'll always love you."

Jane says Henry and her mother, Teresa, had only been married for a year when a sniper killed him in January of 1945. She says his letter made it to her Independence home on what would have been her late mother’s 90th birthday.