‘I was just coming home’: DNA test reunites UP Vietnam vet with Australian daughter after 50 years

K.I. SAWYER, Mich. (WLUC) - One U.P. man has connected with his long-lost daughter.

“I guess overall it was the defining years of my life,” Vietnam Veteran Marshall Davis said.

As Davis looks through old photos from his time as a Master Sgt. in the Vietnam War, he recalls a time that would prove more defining than he imagined, thanks to a week of leave, some rest and relaxation in Australia, and a girl.

“I met Denise at one of the clubs and we spent the night dancing and drinking a little bit, well I drank a lot, we stayed together for three days,” Davis said.

After leaving, he continued serving in the military and eventually returned to his life in the U.S. and retired in the U.P. thinking his time with Denise would remain just a memory. That is until his nephew did a DNA test revealing a cousin in Australia.

“Once I saw her I knew she was mine, but I did the DNA test for additional proof. It came back yes, she’s my daughter and I couldn’t be happier about it,” Davis said.

Maxine Lewis of Lake Macquarie, New South Wales Australia says she tried for years to learn the identity of her father.

Raised by her grandparents, she had no clues to start with but at 50, Lewis was given a DNA test as a gift.

After years of searching there he was, printed plainly on a list, her dad.

“All of the questions that I thought I had throughout my years don’t matter,” Lewis said. “From here on that’s what matters now.”

She then booked a plane to meet her newfound family in person.

“Walking through the doors it was like it was really happening and as soon as I saw them I was just coming home,” Lewis said. “It felt like it was the right thing to do, it was the right place to be, it was the right family.”

Jason Davis, Marshall’s son, says this whole situation is a miracle. He said he always thought he had a sister out there after he had a dream when he was 13 years old.

“There’s a bigger picture going on here,” Jason said. “True happiness in life you just pursue it with everything you got and don’t give up before the miracles happen, they can come true, mine did.”

The family is going to spend the next week with each other seeing everything the U.P. has to offer.

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