Ronald Reagan's hawkish policies drove a United States airman, David Hemler, to desert his unit in Germany more than a quarter of a century ago. With no clues to his whereabouts, his relatives presumed he was dead.
But, missing his family, Hemler, now 49, has finally called home to reveal that for the past 28 years he has been living in Sweden. He has married, fathered three children and found a job with the Government.
"I never planned on it being this long," Hemler told the New York Times from his home in Uppsala.
In February 1984 President Reagan was facing down the Soviet Union and had just overseen the deployment of US missiles in Germany.
Hemler, then a 21-year-old with the 6913th Electronic Security Squadron, based in Bavaria, was angered by the policies. He had also lost his girlfriend. His answer was to walk out and hitchhike to Sweden.