A match made on the front page



Virginia Holberton fell for her husband, Douglas, after reading his war letter in the "Times-Union."

(January 3, 2008) — I owe meeting my husband to the now-defunct Times-Union newspaper here in Rochester. In 1966, the Times-Union ran, on its front page, stories and pictures from servicemen from the area who were in Vietnam. Douglas Holberton, a sergeant in the Marines, wrote the second letter. As I read his letter and biography, I realized he lived about a mile from my parents, with whom I lived. I was new to the Henrietta area, as I had lived in Webster most of my life.

I was impressed that Douglas and the other servicemen would take the time to respond to the newspaper's request about why we were in Vietnam. Using the sketchy address published in the newspaper, I wrote to Douglas to say thank you for fighting for our country. I should add that he was very handsome.

Somehow he received my letter and asked me if I would write to him as a pen pal, which I did. I later learned two other girls and a houseful of nurses near Strong Memorial Hospital also wrote him regularly. When Doug came home, he decided to personally thank each girl for writing to him. I was girl No. 3. We met at my parents' home for the first time on Feb. 1, 1967. Doug was 27 and I was 24. Our love grew quickly, and on Jun. 30, 1967, five months after meeting, we were married.

We enjoyed 261/2 years together and raised two sons, Michael and Chad. On Jan. 22, 1994, Doug died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Doug was a wonderful husband and a great role model for his sons. So thank you, Times-Union, for our union.

— Virginia (Ginny) Holberton of Greece