A former US Navy sailor is hoping to reconnect with an English woman he met 40 years ago while his ship was docked in Hull.
Edward Martino met factory worker Katrina Jarvis at the since closed down Romeo and Juliet's nightclub in the Yorkshire port city in 1979 when he was just 22.
They only ever spent around 12 hours together during two meetings in what the now 64-year-old grandfather said for him was a "once in a lifetime" connection, reports HullLive.
Having managed to reconnect with some of his old service pals over Facebook, the veteran, who has been married once and divorced, is hoping he can now find Katrina.
He posted in a Hull page on the social media site: "Looking for a girl I met over 40 years ago in a place called Romeo and Juliet's. My ship docked in Hull and her name was Katrina Jarvis."
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He went on to describe her as the "most adorable girl in Hull" and he has never been able to forget her.
Edward, who lives in the US, said he had "never told anyone" about Katrina and he regrets not getting her address at the time so he could keep in touch.
In 1979 he was a sailor on board the USS Mullinnix DD944 when it docked in northern England "for a long-needed rest".
It was on his second night back on land Romeo and Juliet's threw a party for sailors, with only the crew and local girls allowed in.
"I saw a girl sitting alone drinking as she called it 'a half a lager'", he explained. "I walked up to her, wondering why she was alone. I asked if I could join her and she said yes.
"We started talking and I quickly realised how sweet a girl she was. She had a soft comforting voice. She seemed a bit lonely but still had a smile that made me smile too. I felt like the luckiest guy in the club because I managed to meet the most adorable girl in Hull."
Edward said the pair spent the rest of the evening "talking, dancing and having a few beers" and then he walked her home.
Katrina asked if he would like to meet her for a date the next day and he agreed, adding: "I would have been crazy to say no."
They spent the following evening in the young woman's house and "sat close holding hands".
"We talked and watched TV and at some point she put her head on my shoulder and fell asleep," Edward recalled.
Heartbreakingly, he had to wake her up and say goodbye because his ship was leaving the next morning.
"I would have much rather held her while she slept but duty called," he said.
"We kissed goodbye and that was the last I saw of her."
Edward went on to say: "I was 22 years old and had spent a total of about 12 hours with a person you only meet once in a life time."
He said she worked in a sausage factory, but he never even knew her age, though he "never forgot her".
At the time, the sailor had been in the navy for four-and-a-half years far from home and said that short bit of time with "this beautiful girl made me forget all of that".
Edward said he only wants to see how Katrina is, "if she is happy and has a good life", but is "not looking to disrupt her life".
"If she's married and has kids and grandkids I'm happy for her and I hope she knows the time we spent together was very special to me."
Edward married two years after meeting Katrina but divorced eight years later, describing it as a "disaster" - though he does have children and grandchildren.
His Facebook appeal has thrown up a few possible leads, but he is still waiting to hear from Katrina.
"All I can do is wait," he added.
